R – How hard is it to build CMS driven websites in WSS/MOSS

content-management-systemmosssharepointwss

We build CMS's with ASP.NET using tools such as Umbraco and DotNetNuke etc

A client is asking us if we can build a site in WSS which I think is Windows Sharepoint Services.

Are there any experienced MOSS people out there who can tell me how hard we would find this?
Would it be just like learning another CMS?
Or will it be a nightmare?

Also, what software do we need to build the site in house for testing?
We don't have a MSDN subscription and use free Microsoft tools (Visual Studio Express and SQL Server Express)

Best Answer

Sharepoint is great for use with its own document management features, and it integrates well with Office products.

It's not such a good platform for development. The API is a nightmare, web parts are incomprehensible, and the database has a terrible structure (fields are named NumericField1, TextField2, etc. Yuck).

If you eventually need a web-facing server, MOSS is very expensive.