If your site is news-oriented, I would definitely recommend Slash. It has a reputation for being hard to maintain and modify, but that is largely based on the experience early pioneers had with the code base (yours truly included).

I think that the Slash code base has come a long way since the release of Slash 2.0. The code is a lot cleaner, a viable plugin architecture exists, and web page form is now fairly well separated from content. I wouldn't call the Slash community a critical mass for the purpose of community technical support, but the group is fairly large and growing.

I almost forgot this, but, an O'Reilly book on Slash is coming out in a few weeks. What further endorsement of the platform does one need?

I'd like to single out Krow, aka Brian Aker, for his project leadership, although a number of other people are making significant contributions.

Dave Aiello
Chatham Township Data Corporation