Just wondering if anyone has any experience running multiple SS sites from one code base, not the multisite module mind you. I'd like to run multiple sites each with their own database and config files, assets folder etc, but a shared collection of silverstripe core files I'm think along the lines of a website as a service model. Would this kind of implementation make more sense as svn or setting up symlimks since the website "owner" would only need access to their own assets folder.

this is a very good question. I'm alos interessted in this thema ...

I don't do this but from discussions with others it is making an installation within one vhost, then symlinking the cms and sapphire folders of another vhost to the original.