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First let me qualify my comments that I've been around the web hosting business since 1995. I've run successful hosting companies in the past (HostAmerica) and worked with 3 different companies for a salary handling hosting-related responsibilities (product management, product engineering, business & strategic management - among other duties).
Embarking on the free hosting marketplace was very strange for me at first... it went against my initial instincts due to the nature of the added risks and dangers of not having a user being a paid customer - in regards to having that bit of control over them and their actions on our shared systems. I've since grown used to that nagging feeling and simply have learned to trust our development team, system administrators and our CEO/CTO to keep the wolves at bay.
Then, while checking Alexa this morning (which we finally hit 4 digits, btw - say what you wish about the validity of their ranking - it was nice to finally reach that milestone) I noticed a few new "similar links" were listed on our page: one of them being
http://freehostz.com/. I clicked the link and found to my extreme dismay that yet another free hosting venture had been ruined by the slime/jerks/bad-guys we all usually call hackers (for lack of a better term). I actually consider most of the folks I know who really qualify to be called hackers to be "friends" and feel they wouldn't bring down or cause the failure of a business or venture just for kicks. Apparently whomever was responsible for bringing down FreeHostZ must have lacked any integrity or decency whatsoever.
What is wrong with our marketplace?!? When free users take from us and then feel it's worthwhile to cannibalize our own infrastructure??? That's something that really pisses me off to the very core.
Now I can of course agree that there is something to be said for better skilled administration, updates and hacking prevention measures... but experience has taught me that no matter how hard you prepare against it, someone good enough can always find a way to make your life hell if you dare them to. So this isn't a challenge to hackers or the like... it's more or less a rant - or possibly a plea. A plea to use your best judgement - a plea that if something is worthwhile (like free hosting resources) then use your skills to help or even protect it - send the admins a note (or leave them a note inside their system - showing that you could get in).
In the past we had a hacker do this very thing on an old BSDI system we were using as a demo box. He left us a note, telling us what we left open and that we should be more careful. That's the Internet that I came to know and love back in the day. I know things have changed, but does it all have to be so damn destructive? I guess so for some bottom-feeding jerk(s) who decided , "hey, I'll delete this site's whole database just for grins...".
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So, I'll end this overly long rant/diatribe/plea with a bit of advice: anyone who wants to get into free hosting should REALLY watch their rear-end. It's a jungle out there kiddies, it's not play-time and it's certainly open season for exploit-city - at least once you put yourself out there and start to become successful.
Good luck to all and hopefully there will be something positive to come out of this particular venture ending their free reign and going fully to the paid business model.
FreeHostZ & hackers - what's troubling about this industry
