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What do you guys think about this? Is it normal for big hosts to make their own auto-installers, or is HostGator the first one to try this?

I know some hosts make/develop their own control panels, but I've never heard of any hosts trying to compete with Fantastico, Softaculous, ect.

Bluehost has Simplescripts.

As hosting becomes more and more standardized, we probably have to expect hosts to come up with stuff like this, to differentiate themselves. I mean, if someone tries Hostgator and really likes Quickinstall, it might be enough to prevent them from leaving.

It is certainly a nice idea, though really why reinvent a wheel that already functions perfectly well? it could be advantageous for those users that enjoy the software or have no previous experience however it could and has been a hindrance for users who had allready familiarised themselves with a panel or script in particular, an example being users selecting hosts based on the choice of plesk or cPanel.

That said creating a script that combines the functions of various scripts and or tasks that before required that of an experienced web developer to complete and simplifying the task to that of a beginner webmaster, is a market that is yet untapped. We ourselves have a project directly in this area tied to auto installers in a way that is the first of its kind for webmasters. (more on that in a couple of months )

So personally there is plenty of room for improvement but de-standardisation is somewhat of a step backwards in my book, from a programming point of view.

HostGator is so large that in a way it becomes cheaper to run their own software than use 3rd party software. The more intellectual property they build, the more unique and custom tailored they become, the more competitive advantage they have over other companies.

Ahh.. I didn't know that about Bluehost. Also, you have a good point. If QuickInstall becomes more loved than Fantastico by their clients, HostGator will definately keep them longer, thus making more profit from each client.

Also a very good point. I believe HostGator has already broken the one million mark with their clients, if i'm not mistaken. That's alot of websites and license fees.

We purchase all of our servers from theplanet and with doing so we actually get fantastico included for free. There's a few reasons we've developed quick install....

1. Fantastico doesn't do automatic updates. It seems anyone that uses fantastico eventually gets hacked which costs us $100,000's in support, lost customers, and hurts our reputation.

2. We will have more scripts then fantastico.

3. Fantastico is extremely slow to release the latest version of a script.

4. Customers will love not having to worry about security and or doing updates and stay with us.


The wheel was very square we are simply making it round. =)

I didn't know you roamed HD forums, Brent.

I understand.. I personally don't like to use Fantastico. I like to do manual installs myself, but I know the average user would just rather click and be done with it.

How many scripts does QuickInstall support at the moment? And, will it be availabe for your resellers to offer to their clients as well sometime in the future?

Does fantastico actually have a bad security problem? I have never really heard anything about this

Host Gator is probably trying to think of ways to cut down on operating expenses and what better way than to get rid of all 3rd party software.

The hosting industry is shifting from ping, power and pipe to application delivery. If you've been to a hosting conference lately, you will know that SaaS delivery is a hot item.

HostGator is making a smart move.

As a large provider, they can dedicate resources to packaging applications that are in demand by their users. By giving their user what they want, they get to keep them.

Also, they have the opportunity to differentiate by offering applications not found in the Fantastico suite.

Hopefully, on the security front, they can eliminate scripts with poor security history and replace them with more reliable ones.

On the performance front, they can give scripts better tuned to their architecture and move well into VPS offerings.

By moving this in-house, you gain a lot of advantages.

Also, if they decide to deploy their own, they can charge their dedicated and vps server clients to use them.

Costs are of great concern. We have a number of scripts that we utilize as custom installs through a plugin manager in cPanel however I hope that Hostgator has created an option to NOT automatically update a script.

Has anyone ever automatically updated a script for someone (thinking they're doing the client a favor), and totally banjacksed the site? I know too many people that make custom edits on their templates and even include files within programs such as Wordpress, to perform an automated upgrade without request would cripple a site.

Take the case of Wordpress for example. When the 3.0 version came out, initially it was not compatible with themes such as Thesis, Swift and various add-ons. Forcing an upgrade on a user that had no idea and then waiting days (or weeks) while the template/scripts they're using are updated would leave the site offline or broken.

I like automation as much as the next guy, but forcing upgrades on people can be an even bigger support nightmare.

At the same time, fair play to Hostgator to implement their own system!

if you think about it now that they have there own fatisco working script they can save a lot more money and they can put more money into servers because they no longer need to worry about licenses for fantisco or any other installer now that they have there own custom built one.

I fully agree with you there, auto-upgrades can cause more problems than they can solve. Has anyone used the softaculous forced upgrade feature?