Decoupled horizons: Drupal's next decade

Decoupling is not just a way of building a site, it could lead to a renaissance for the Drupal project itself. Is a fully decoupled system a goal that we should work toward? If so, what decisions need to be made and how should we evaluate them?

In this session, the audience will be asked to think about what sort of applications Drupal might have in the next decade. It will ask the audience to consider what it will mean to be a CMS and web framework in an internet-driven world.

This session will not provide answers, instead it will set up a framework for thinking about what Drupal could be. It will do that by reviewing the technical challenges ahead. Then, it will analyze different features, anti-features and trade-offs that Drupal might make in order to overcome them.

* Product direction
- Should Drupal continue to be an application builder or evolve into a content repository?
- How would this decision change how and where Drupal is used?
* Layout and presentation
- Does Drupal have a role?
- If so, how could it facilitate it?
* Application routing
- How do different architectures express a preference for the application builder vs. the developer?
* Authentication
- Does Drupal’s user account system still make sense?
- What other kinds of systems are there and what features and trade-offs do they entail?
- What is the difference between authentication and authorization and why is this important for Drupal applications?