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+FAQ: General
+============
+
+Why does this project exist?
+----------------------------
+
+Django grew from a very practical need: World Online, a newspaper Web
+operation, is responsible for building intensive Web applications on journalism
+deadlines. In the fast-paced newsroom, World Online often has only a matter of
+hours to take a complicated Web application from concept to public launch.
+
+At the same time, the World Online Web developers have consistently been
+perfectionists when it comes to following best practices of Web development.
+
+In fall 2003, the World Online developers (Adrian Holovaty and Simon Willison)
+ditched PHP and began using Python to develop its Web sites. As they built
+intensive, richly interactive sites such as Lawrence.com, they began to extract
+a generic Web development framework that let them build Web applications more
+and more quickly. They tweaked this framework constantly, adding improvements
+over two years.
+
+In summer 2005, World Online decided to open-source the resulting software,
+Django. Django would not be possible without a whole host of open-source
+projects -- `Apache`_, `Python`_, and `PostgreSQL`_ to name a few -- and we're
+thrilled to be able to give something back to the open-source community.
+
+.. _Apache: http://httpd.apache.org/
+.. _Python: http://www.python.org/
+.. _PostgreSQL: http://www.postgresql.org/
+
+What does "Django" mean, and how do you pronounce it?
+-----------------------------------------------------
+
+Django is named after `Django Reinhardt`_, a gypsy jazz guitarist from the 1930s
+to early 1950s. To this day, he's considered one of the best guitarists of all time.
+
+Listen to his music. You'll like it.
+
+Django is pronounced **JANG**-oh. Rhymes with FANG-oh. The "D" is silent.
+
+We've also recorded an `audio clip of the pronunciation`_.
+
+.. _Django Reinhardt: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Django_Reinhardt
+.. _audio clip of the pronunciation: http://red-bean.com/~adrian/django_pronunciation.mp3
+
+Is Django stable?
+-----------------
+
+Yes. World Online has been using Django for more than three years. Sites built
+on Django have weathered traffic spikes of over one million hits an hour and a
+number of Slashdottings. Yes, it's quite stable.
+
+Does Django scale?
+------------------
+
+Yes. Compared to development time, hardware is cheap, and so Django is
+designed to take advantage of as much hardware as you can throw at it.
+
+Django uses a "shared-nothing" architecture, which means you can add hardware
+at any level -- database servers, caching servers or Web/application servers.
+
+The framework cleanly separates components such as its database layer and
+application layer. And it ships with a simple-yet-powerful
+:doc:`cache framework </topics/cache>`.
+
+Who's behind this?
+------------------
+
+Django was originally developed at World Online, the Web department of a
+newspaper in Lawrence, Kansas, USA. Django's now run by an international team of
+volunteers; you can read all about them over at the :doc:`list of committers
+</internals/committers>`
+
+Which sites use Django?
+-----------------------
+
+The Django wiki features a consistently growing `list of Django-powered sites`_.
+Feel free to add your Django-powered site to the list.
+
+.. _list of Django-powered sites: http://code.djangoproject.com/wiki/DjangoPoweredSites
+
+.. _mtv:
+
+Django appears to be a MVC framework, but you call the Controller the "view", and the View the "template". How come you don't use the standard names?
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Well, the standard names are debatable.
+
+In our interpretation of MVC, the "view" describes the data that gets presented
+to the user. It's not necessarily *how* the data *looks*, but *which* data is
+presented. The view describes *which data you see*, not *how you see it.* It's
+a subtle distinction.
+
+So, in our case, a "view" is the Python callback function for a particular URL,
+because that callback function describes which data is presented.
+
+Furthermore, it's sensible to separate content from presentation -- which is
+where templates come in. In Django, a "view" describes which data is presented,
+but a view normally delegates to a template, which describes *how* the data is
+presented.
+
+Where does the "controller" fit in, then? In Django's case, it's probably the
+framework itself: the machinery that sends a request to the appropriate view,
+according to the Django URL configuration.
+
+If you're hungry for acronyms, you might say that Django is a "MTV" framework
+-- that is, "model", "template", and "view." That breakdown makes much more
+sense.
+
+At the end of the day, of course, it comes down to getting stuff done. And,
+regardless of how things are named, Django gets stuff done in a way that's most
+logical to us.
+
+<Framework X> does <feature Y> -- why doesn't Django?
+-----------------------------------------------------
+
+We're well aware that there are other awesome Web frameworks out there, and
+we're not averse to borrowing ideas where appropriate. However, Django was
+developed precisely because we were unhappy with the status quo, so please be
+aware that "because <Framework X> does it" is not going to be sufficient reason
+to add a given feature to Django.
+
+Why did you write all of Django from scratch, instead of using other Python libraries?
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+When Django was originally written a couple of years ago, Adrian and Simon
+spent quite a bit of time exploring the various Python Web frameworks
+available.
+
+In our opinion, none of them were completely up to snuff.
+
+We're picky. You might even call us perfectionists. (With deadlines.)
+
+Over time, we stumbled across open-source libraries that did things we'd
+already implemented. It was reassuring to see other people solving similar
+problems in similar ways, but it was too late to integrate outside code: We'd
+already written, tested and implemented our own framework bits in several
+production settings -- and our own code met our needs delightfully.
+
+In most cases, however, we found that existing frameworks/tools inevitably had
+some sort of fundamental, fatal flaw that made us squeamish. No tool fit our
+philosophies 100%.
+
+Like we said: We're picky.
+
+We've documented our philosophies on the
+:doc:`design philosophies page </misc/design-philosophies>`.
+
+Is Django a content-management-system (CMS)?
+--------------------------------------------
+
+No, Django is not a CMS, or any sort of "turnkey product" in and of itself.
+It's a Web framework; it's a programming tool that lets you build Web sites.
+
+For example, it doesn't make much sense to compare Django to something like
+Drupal_, because Django is something you use to *create* things like Drupal.
+
+Of course, Django's automatic admin site is fantastic and timesaving -- but
+the admin site is one module of Django the framework. Furthermore, although
+Django has special conveniences for building "CMS-y" apps, that doesn't mean
+it's not just as appropriate for building "non-CMS-y" apps (whatever that
+means!).
+
+.. _Drupal: http://drupal.org/
+
+How can I download the Django documentation to read it offline?
+---------------------------------------------------------------
+
+The Django docs are available in the ``docs`` directory of each Django tarball
+release. These docs are in reST (reStructuredText) format, and each text file
+corresponds to a Web page on the official Django site.
+
+Because the documentation is `stored in revision control`_, you can browse
+documentation changes just like you can browse code changes.
+
+Technically, the docs on Django's site are generated from the latest development
+versions of those reST documents, so the docs on the Django site may offer more
+information than the docs that come with the latest Django release.
+
+.. _stored in revision control: http://code.djangoproject.com/browser/django/trunk/docs
+
+Where can I find Django developers for hire?
+--------------------------------------------
+
+Consult our `developers for hire page`_ for a list of Django developers who
+would be happy to help you.
+
+You might also be interested in posting a job to http://djangogigs.com/ .
+If you want to find Django-capable people in your local area, try
+http://djangopeople.net/ .
+
+.. _developers for hire page: http://code.djangoproject.com/wiki/DevelopersForHire