without an e

opening up [07/19/2007 18:41:57]

I have been wanting to take cornerhost open source for a long, long time, but I've been scared to do it.

The libraries I use have always been open source, though (as far as I know) very few people have ever looked at them - probably because there's no marketing, or because the marketing I do have (scarletlambda.org) doesn't really make the code approachable, or even give you a way to download it yet.

The applications I use inside cornerhost, though, are all hidden away in a protected repository. These include:

The point is, there's a ton of code behind cornerhost, and even without having to answer support mail (which takes up much of my day), I simply don't have time to make all the improvements I want.

That's the problem with web hosting: it's an easy business to get into, but it's such a broad topic that the scope is overwhelming. It's hard to amaze your customers when every account you have is doing something different. (My other service, versionhost cvs hosting, is much simpler, because every account works the same way.)

Many of my customers are developers, and many of them have had suggestions for features and even offered to help implement them. As a developer, I can understand this. I'd happily volunteer my time to implement features that would make my experience with amazon, google adwords, or red hot pawn more enjoyable, even though I pay for all those services.

As a business owner, though, I've always been uncomfortable with these offers. It's the same reaction I've had people try to tip me or overpay on their accounts.

I guess I've always had kind of a problem accepting help from others. I probably need to work on that. I suppose one reason for going open source is that it's easier for me to accept help that way, because open source code at least potentially benefits everyone, not just me personally.

I think opening the code could have a lot of positive consequences:

It seems like everybody wins. But it still scares me.

The potential negative outcomes all seem ridiculous when I write them down. Nobody joins cornerhost for my control panel or billing system. The statements you get are ugly and have your entire billing history (going back 5 years or more for some people), and control panel has serious usability problems. The things that make cornerops better (in my opinion) than, say, webmin, are on the inside. People join cornerhost despite control panel, and because of the personal service. And yet I have this irrational fear that somebody else will swoop in and take away all my business the minute I open the code.

And that's silly. I have a tiny little company, and if for some bizarre reason, all my customers left tomorrow, I'd go get a job making three or four times my current salary. Boo freakin' hoo.

I really have nothing to lose, except my iron grip on a little walled garden of source code. Going open source means letting go of some technical problems, and taking on people problems. Like:

I think that in a few months, I'll look back at this decision and wonder why I hesitated so long, but right now, it's all a little overwhelming.

Nonetheless, I'm going to do it, and make it my main focus for next week, after I upload the brickslayer tutorial. Here's the plan:

I'm stepping into the unknown here. What am I missing? Any thoughts, advice, etc would be most welcome. (I've re-enabled comments for this entry.)

I understand your fear. Most of the sites I build for people (all of which are hosted on cornerhost--where else?) are based on WordPress. And everytime I tell people about WP, I'm a little scared they're just gonna try to give it a go on their own, or use wordpress.com instead. But, they stick with me becuase they know they'll get a better end product, and I'm happy to teach them some hacks along the way. All that to say, congratulations... your baby's all growed up. I look forward to learning from your code.
by tk [07/20/2007 00:45:47]
Of course it's scary to think about going open source. You are letting your baby go to school and she'll change. She may become someone you no longer recognize. But, she'll always be your child. and she might learn something you never would have thought to teach her. And as for Cornerhost...as I think I (and so many others) once said....you are Cornerhost. We sought you out. We didn't look up "cheapest web host" on Google. I doubt any of use knew what the control panel looked like before we joined. But we did know your reputation for taking care of your clients. Good luck with this project. I wish I had the coding skills to help.
by Chuck Welch [07/19/2007 20:55:52]

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