
WordPress install is too slow, so I created this 90 second installer. - gotrythis
http://www.setupbot.com
======
sipefree
I honestly believe that people who can't figure their way around wget, tar,
chmod, etc have no business trying to install and administer Wordpress or
PHPBB or any of the other common web apps.

They are too often attacked and exploited, that anyone who attempts to run
them really needs to know what they are doing, and at least have basic
knowledge about infosec and Linux.

It's cruel to give those people the tools to (in 90 seconds) lead them down a
path to getting owned.

~~~
woodall
...and thus, markets emerge.

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ceejayoz
You say on the home page:

> All information is sent over secure https and no information is kept, even
> temporarily.

The install process asks for FTP server details over port 21. To me, this is
misleading - passwords etc. may be encrypted on their way to your server, but
from your server to the user's web server it's all going in plaintext.

~~~
gotrythis
I'll check into this. We're also working on supporting sFTP.

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gotrythis
Hey fellow HNers. I'm trying to decide if there is real value in this and if I
should do something with it... or maybe WordPress will buy it from me. It can
do incredibly complex installs for web apps very fast. Please let me know what
you think.

~~~
eggbrain
It might be interesting as an open source project, but I can't see it as
having too much value, especially with hosting services like Dreamhost giving
people 1 click installs of Wordpress.

~~~
gotrythis
That is a possibility I'm also considering. There are also commercial
applications that hosts like dreamhost obviously cannot install for people.
And this would always have the most up-to-date version, maintained by the
application writer.

~~~
calvin
Dreamhost and other providers _DO_ have simple installers for things like
WordPress. Most good providers do. If people are using these hosts, they won't
need your tool.

Honestly I'd be worried if I saw somebody using a tool like this to install
WordPress. Too much potential for abuse.

It's not that I don't trust you, but I don't trust the other nefarious guy who
will build SEO and setup a site to install corrupted versions of WordPress for
people.

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powertower
90 seconds is too long (if that's your angle).

"WampDeveloper Pro" installs it in literally 2.5 seconds.

There is also Installatron, Softaculous, Simple Scripts (which can go the FTP
route), Fantastico. Then there is Microsoft Platform Installer (for IIS). And
probably a few more.

> I'm raising money for another project, and my hope is that WordPress or
> someone like them will license or buy SetupBOT outright.

That's going to be difficult. This market is completely saturated and is
nothing new.

~~~
gotrythis
All those are for opensource apps, which of course WordPress is. Maybe not a
market for WordPress, maybe there is, for servers that don't have one of those
options installed. The idea in mind was for commercial applications as well.

------
gotrythis
UPDATE:

We have been so far approached by four companies that do WordPress installs
for a living. This sums it up: "I do wordpress web dev and it is annoying to
setup so many sites over and over. This could be very helpful."

While I got some good feedback that we're going to act on, most of the
comments were saying that hosts have built in things for this, so there isn't
a need, or something similar. While for the most part these comments were
there to help, some were not and they were missing the point... and we are
aware of the other options for installing WordPress.

SetupBOT can be used for any web application that gets installed on servers,
not just WordPress. WordPress was just an example, because it's free. I made a
mistake with my choice in post title and perhaps missed out on some
opportunity because of that.

As for WordPress, some people are manually installing it, which is why there
is a manual install option on the WordPress site, and it's a pain. Also,
companies specialize in installing WordPress bundled with themes and plugins,
which SetupBOT can handle, and they are telling us that it is a pain for them
too.

Thank you to the community for helping us connect with companies in that
market. We'll investigate if that is the right option for us.

Of course, my ideal would be to sell to larger companies, like WordPress
itself, or other companies that sell software that gets installed on servers,
for instance support software Kyako.com.

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mrpollo
i would say open source it, and try to contribute to the project
<http://wordpress.org/download/svn/> you might end up getting hired if not by
them by someone else who does heavy wordpress development

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Zakuzaa
Most of the cPanel installations usually already have quick installers for all
popular CMSs including wordpress.

~~~
gotrythis
True. Lots of commercial apps and of course they do have an install on their
site, which is quite the process. Could be replaced. Maybe WordPress will see
this, and they can decide if it's of value to them.

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ck2
Also see:
[http://www.simplescripts.com/script_details/install:Wordpres...](http://www.simplescripts.com/script_details/install:Wordpress)

~~~
gotrythis
Thanks. The WordPress install is just an example. It can be configured to
install any application fairly quickly.

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whalesalad
Whoa... I haven't heard the word 'InstallShield' in YEARS! thanks for hitting
me with a thick whiff of nostalgia haha.

~~~
gotrythis
Guess I kinda dated myself there, lol.

