Drupal or Joomla/Mambo?

I've read several threads on this issue and understand that people have
their preference on things. However, I'd like to know, if I am given a
choice of using Drupal or Mambo, which one should I go for.

The other factors are - those who will be using it are learning PHP but
not a gruru or anything like that yet, but we are learning and will get
better. But we need to get something up and running quickly for now,
and we don't want to get started with the wrong system. We will be
needing functions such as posting news items, photo gallery, member's
log in, and having different secure areas for about 3 to 4 different
groups of people so that they can access different pages, materials and
have forums within their secure areas. This is in addition to the
normal pages most websites have such as About Us, Contacts etc. that
are public.

Also, if it is possible I'd like to use something that have a choice of
template and the template are not too difficult to customize.

Thanks for any advice.
Petre

David Cary Hart wrote:

> I dislike them all but, if I had to choose, it would be drupal
>

i was a Mambo/Joomla advocate for a while there but have grown sick of their
size. once you hand them off to clients, they get into every nook and
cranny, screw something up and you have to figure it out for them. few
organizations need the level of editorial management provided, not to
mention the templating system. yes, something simpler is often in order.