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Fused Network is the best webhost, period. When I have a problem, I hear back almost instantly. When my site was flooded, it went offline for four minutes, compared to two days with my previous host. I’ve reviewed them here. Fused’s David McKendrick is amazing work with. He serves as an inspiration. Of the many great things I can say about David and Fused, two jump right out. Fused Network has offered free web hosting for Open Source projects since 2005. Can you say that about your web host? They also recently ended a Holiday Giveway where 100% of proceeds from the month of December went to the charity of your choice. David agreed to be interviewed, after humbly telling me my readers would be more interested in hearing from a coder. I thought you would like to hear about someone that loves Open Source (sorry RMS–Free Software) and puts his money where his mouth is.

Interview with David McKendrick of Fused Network:

1. Fused Network has a generous offer to host open-source projects for
free. Can you tell me about the projects you currently host, and give
details on the offer?

Well, since our inception back in 2003 under an alternate brand name,
we’ve always been firm supporters of open source. Fused Network was
primarily initiated to help cover the costs of hosting a couple of
existing open source projects like e107 (http://www.e107.org), a content
management system that I’ve spent several years using personally.

Since starting the open source hosting program (which is less than
official) we’ve hosted the likes of e107, BitComet, mirrors for FreeCiv,
Lingua and a wide range of other projects. We’re always on the lookout
for new projects to host, it’s our way of giving back to the community.

Essentially the offer is for any open source project that requires web
hosting of any sort, we’re open to any arrangement of any capacity.
While most projects these days are satisfied with providers like
SourceForge, it never hurts to have alternatives just in case they want
a full-fledged site and a bit more control. Fused Network offers just
that along with very reliable connections, gorgeous performance and a
small vessel full of features.

2. What is the appeal of open-source to you?

Almost every aspect of open-source appeals to me in some form. There’s a
number of key features of the movement itself that really spark my
interest though. Primarily, the fact that it’s community driven is one
alluring quality. Not only is it powered by people from all different
walks of life but in a number of cases they’re developing selflessly for
the greater good. The end-users are equally as vibrant though: Open
source offers a wide range of benefits all the while being free in most
cases!

The second reason is the fact that it’s open. The ‘open’ aspect of it
allows there to be greater security (ironic, isn’t it?) in that masses
of people can audit the code, add & subtract from it and develop it to
fit their needs. If they need a specific feature they can add it in;
Likewise, if they don’t need a specific feature they can remove it to
lessen the bulk of the software itself.

That isn’t to say that closed-source or proprietary software doesn’t
have its’ own benefits as well but it’s simply not as selfless. There’s
a great deal of downsides to closed-source as well including lack of 3rd
party code auditing and in the end if a company goes under, the entire
project tends to cease. Anyone left holding a license is essentially
left holding a worthless piece of paper.

Open Source tends to alleviate a lot of those fears because projects can
continue on essentially forever.
In a nutshell, Open Source is freedom.

Freedom from obscene licensing fees, freedom from oppressive licensing
structures & with it comes the ability to contribute, use & spread
software freely.

3. What open-source software do you use the most? Do you have favorites?

One of the benefits of open source software is the ability to try
multiple projects. At any given moment I’ve got at least ten different
audio players, browsers & operating systems floating around on my pc and
laptop. I’m a kid in the candy store when it comes to options.

On the larger scale, there’s a wide range of ‘internet only’ open source
applications I’ve been utilizing as well. To merely say I’m addicted
would be a far cry from the truth.

These days, wordpress & e107 are my current favourites on the web. Both
projects have excellent leadership, development speeds and goals. While
each has an entirely different purpose, to me each are gorgeous in their
own respects.

Wordpress allows the easy dissemenation of information & e107 allows
communities to be effortlessly constructed. There’s a number of other
projects out there like Filebrowser, Vanilla & SMF that I also consider
works of art.

On my desktop, Ubuntu’s release of Linux is probably 3rd in line for my
love: It’s a feature-packed distribution that makes it very easy for
end-users to utilize the product. Aeons ago, I recall being reprimanded
for destroying our home computers with my horrible linux administration
skills. At the time, we were floating around on the slowest dial-up in
existence so I kept finding copies of redhat in the bargain bin at
walmart to supplement my needs.

These days, I’ve had everyone from my aging grandparents to family
members try out Linux. It’s impressive to watch them try it for the
first time & see just how easy it is for the end-user. They themselves
are surprised at the ease of use. Most find it easier to wrangle than
Windows!

Beyond the operating system itself, I’m a huge fan of XMMS, Audacity,
gnuCash, Ktoon, Songbird, Firefox & most of all the SWORD project. All
of the software I enjoy using fills a need in my life that never could
have been fulfilled in a closed source operating system: The licensing
fees alone would have bankrupted me long ago. There’s hundreds of other
projects that I could mention and use frequently but I’ll spare that for
another time.

4. Tell me the history of Fused Network.

Fused Network has been involved in the web hosting industry since
February 2006. Prior to 2006, I had operated a smaller web hosting
provider that merged with Fused Network. Since our inception, we’ve had
absolutely insane growth rates. Just this year, we’ve tripled our
clientbase and now host almost 1,000 domain names — a far cry from the
150 we hosted at the beginning of this year.

A large part of our success can be attributed directly to open source
projects. A great number of users from every project have signed up as
clients after hearing about us supporting their projects selflessly.
It’s great seeing the community rewarding those involved.

5. If you don’t mind, tell us about yourself.

How in depth one could go on about this question, I was born in the
woods & raised by wolves? Not quite, but close.
I’m just a regular ol’ joe, since about 2003 I’ve been involved in web
hosting, web development and online media.

After having spent a number of years handling support for web hosting
companies like HostGator, Hostingplex & several others I decided it was
time to launch a solid provider for a change. At the time while working
my full-time job, I had a small ‘hobby provider’ but there was always a
limit on how much time I could really devote to the project. In April of
this year, I went full-time with Fused Network and haven’t looked back
since.

Every day since our inception we’ve experienced explosive growth and
there’s always something different going on.
As far as myself — I’m fairly regular. I enjoy sailing, technology,
scuba diving & piloting small cessnas are on the top of the list of the
things I enjoy most though. I spent most of my childhood living in a
number of diverse areas like Florida, Costa Rica & Prince Edward Island.
In 2001 I returned to Canada for University and spent a couple of years
hacking away at an Economics degree at the lovely Carleton University in
our nation’s capital, Ottawa. It wasn’t for me, so I tried web hosting
instead: Less math that wasn’t directly related to cashing cheques.

The majority of my days are spent helping clients and exploring the big
city of Toronto while chowing down on more raw fish than any man should
intake.

6. What prompted the Holiday Giveaway Promotion?

Well, since our meager beginnings, Fused Network has always been
involved in charitable activities. I would consider myself a
philanthropist of sorts, and I’m always on a quest to help others no
matter how small or large the cause.

In Toronto and any large city we often see the needy strewn across
sidewalks & sleeping under stairwells. We’re reminded daily that there
are others out there that are not as blessed as we are — so that’s one
place these programs launch out of, pure need.

Spending 12 hours a day helping clients & generating revenue simply
isn’t enough, each of us has a responsibility to help those around us.
Since I can’t get out there as frequently as I would like to myself,
this program simply offers a way for myself and my clients to help in
whatever way we can, no matter where we’re at in life.

7. What do you find the most challenging in web hosting? The most
rewarding?

Technology is always a challenge. The beauty of it, is every day there’s
something new going on. That’s also a downside, though. The entire
industry seems like it changes on an almost daily basis — what users
might want today, will be entirely different tomorrow. Technology can be
fun on the other hand in that it’s quite exciting to work with something
or someone new, all of the time.

The most rewarding aspect is definitely the giant smiles & the thank
yous. Client satisfaction is what I got into the industry for and it’s
what has kept me here. Just recently, a new client from Germany
overnighted me a bundle of chocolate and a postcard telling me about her
city — the mere thought of having someone from halfway around the world
thank you from the bottom of their heart — ah, that’s what keeps me
going

My clients are blessings.

My previous article, 10 things I hate about KDE 4 RC2, got a lot of unexpected attention. At Digg I was called a “damn fool”, “dumbass” (for some reason that guy thought I believed RC referred to Plasma) (?!) and an “idiot”. I apparently hurt developer feelings. The point of the article was to imitate complaints I expect to see if some things do not change. Had I read this post, I may not have even written it. I stand by my complaints about Release Candidate 2 (the openSUSE version), overall they were mainly minor. I will revisit that post once the release goes gold. I promised to follow up with 10 things I love about KDE 4 RC2+, so here goes.

10 things I love about KDE4 RC2+ (openSUSE flavor):

10. Oxygen Icons – Someone mentioned in a comment somewhere that I I could take the time to complain, but not take the time to mention how nice the Oxygen Icons look. Here you are! They do look nice. They aren’t cartoonish, they don’t look like Fisher-Price designed them (sup, XP). They look attractive and modern. I definitely prefer them to Tango, and it isn’t like Tango is bad. They present a nice face as the default icon set. A lot of work and thought has been put into them, and it shows. Great job, Oxygen-Icon team!
9. Look and Feel – Huge improvement here. The environment looks modern, subtly flashy (which couldn’t have been easy to pull off) and clean. I like the use of blacks throughout. I’m glad to see bright blue off of my screen. Little things like “Alt + F2″ are improved. First, it looks great. The Plasma box that opens is sharp looking. The added functionality, putting “application, location or search term” together is nice. The button to show system activity is helpful. A small area, but indicative of the work done. There is a consistency using it that I have not seen in an operating system (more on this below). It is a lot more attractive than Vista, to my eye. It looks fantastic and feels fast, and I’m using openSUSE’s somewhat dated packages. The more I use it, the more I like it.

8. Konqueror improvements – The over cluttered-looking Konqueror loved and bitched about endlessly is gone. We now have a snazzy looking default Konqueror, with helpful links on the opening page, seven icons on the bar by default. As I complained about before, some of the functionality I am used to is not there, more likely than not due to openSUSE providing an outdated kde-konqueror-addons package. It looks damn good. It has been solid as a web browser. I look forward to the release version. The recent Dolphin/Konqueror controversy is positive in a sense, showing the love and fanatical devotion we have for the swiss army knife on steroids that Konqueror is.

7. Koffice2 is amazing – This will get its own article, but Koffice2 looks and behaves beautifully. It fits in very nicely with the very attractive default desktop. I am looking forward to spending a lot of time with Koffice2. Excellent job here, developers. I already prefer it to OpenOffice. Much more about this topic soon.
6. Doing away with the desktop-is-file-manager idea – This is a bold step. It may feel odd at first, particularly for those of you addicted to stuffing your desktop full of icons. I like that it is a push in a new direction. The payoff might not show up entirely with the release of 4.0, but I expect to see big things here. Change is good.

5. Kickoff - Hold up, haters. It isn’t Kickoff itself that I love as much as the idea that it is there by default. It reminds me of the story (that I hope is true) of the French government doing away with phone books years ago to force people to use the internet. With the upcoming Raptor, Lancelot and other ideas moving forward, this choice again helps push us to the future. The more I use Kickoff the more I like it. I don’t find it to be the spawn of satan that a lot of you do. The familiar menu is still available if you prefer to kick it old school.

4. Composite effects – nicely done. Kwin’s Composite effects look great. Modern, not too much going on. I like that they are there but do not get up in your face. Tasteful default choices yet again. This area will be getting its own article soon. I want to spend more time with it and become more knowledgeable than I am. I like that “Ctrl + F8″ shows me my desktops. “Alt + Tab” is an attractive switcher. “Ctrl + F10″ show me all of my windows. This hands down beats Vista. It will be interesting to see how it will interact with Compiz-Fusion. Overall, I really like this and will have more to say very soon. Excellent job again, Developers.

3. Gwenview – Poorly named Gwenview is now cleaned up, as stated here, and now only gives you the image and a basic toolbar when opening an image. (Click link for nice screenshots) Images opened from Gwenview you get many more choices. This shows the level of detail and thought that went into creating KDE 4. It also brings me to my next point:

2. Consistency – I love this. It doesn’t jump right out at first, but settled in slowly for me. KTorrent looks like a KDE 4 app, because it is. KMail fits in perfectly. The games have been updated and look in place. I can’t imagine the work that went into achieving this, but it was time well spent. Going back to other desktops really magnifies the lack of consistency in them. The consistency is outstanding in KDE 4.

1. Guts, courage and balls – To me, this is the biggest thing about KDE 4. Frankly, I was surprised to read that developers were “hurt” and “disillusioned” by my “10 things I hate” post. I’m sorry to hear that they have been beaten down by criticism. A _really_big_thing_ is happening here. A move to the future has been committed to and the first step is close to being achieved. KDE 4 is better than Vista. KDE 4 improves upon the outstanding 3 series. There will be more improvements down the road, but honestly things are in good shape as of my dated RC2 system. I commend the developers for the outstanding work done. I can’t wait to see the results of the final weeks of bug killing and squashing. From what I read, development is at a frantic pace. You guys have done something tremendous for which you should be proud.

The fact that the KDE team has pulled this off is inspiring. My stupid little top ten lists do not do justice to this accomplishment. Trying to narrow things I love to ten was not easy. I decided to focus on what was immediate. The big-picture changes are just too big to be dropped into a little list. Phonon, Solid, Decibal and all of the other big technologies didn’t even get on the list. They need their own articles to get the attention they deserve. The changes are so big and so interesting that it is easy to become overwhelmed trying to write about them. If that is true, imagine coding them!

So, to close, I apologize to anyone I offended with my first article. I meant in no way to take away from the work that has been done. I can’t wait to install the final release. I can’t wait to see the firestorm of controversy that will erupt on that day. We Linux users are passionate, and this passion, while seeming destructive at times, is the fuel that drives the improvements. The future is very bright for KDE. The future is now. Thanks again for all of the work put into a system that I can use for free.

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