5 ms·

BitNami (YC W13) Launches App Store for Server Software

54 points by ridruejo 14y ago

njx 14y ago
I see only open source applications. Can someone offer commercial applications that are not open source?
- ridruejo 14y ago
  Yes, commercial apps are coming soon to the platform. We already provide commercial versions of Liferay and SugarCRM in our Cloud Hosting product
  - njx 14y ago
    Would it be like just providing you the complete package and installation steps or is there some kind of integration required?
    - ridruejo 14y ago
      Right now we handle all the packaging, but over the next few months you will be able to provide your own apps on top of the platform. We want to make this process as painless as possible :)
bradleybuda 14y ago
I've used BitNami a number of times and their product is incredibly polished and has a huge library of server apps. I needed to test some of our software with a couple of different versions of Drupal and I was able to spin up running instances in just a few minutes, without touching a command line. It's definitely a big step up from just launching an AMI.
northisup 14y ago
Don't we already had an app store for servers called apt-get?
- wmf 14y ago
  Imagine that you don't know how to use a command line, then look again.
  - Nursie 14y ago
    So ... synaptic? I know, there are likely use-cases not addressed by these tools that others can fulfill, but Synaptic does work as Graphical apt/aptitude
    - wmf 14y ago
      VNCing into a full GUI on a server just to run Synaptic seems like a waste, although I guess Windows admins do the equivalent. But as ridruejo said, most Web apps still require significant and often arcane configuration after you've gotten everything installed. (Arguably this is the app's problem to solve...)
      - ridruejo 14y ago
        In many cases it is not even the configuration of the application itself, which tends to be complex in general, but getting all the third-party dependencies (libraries, gems, servers, etc.) that is the pain, specially if the latest versions of any component is required. This tends not to be an issue for well known apps like WordPress, but it is for the less mainstream ones...
      - Nursie 14y ago
        Wait so... command line is bad and when I suggest you don't have to use that, a GUI program is also bad? What answer were you looking for there?
- ridruejo 14y ago
  apt-get works for system libraries but not really that well for high-level apps which have different requirements and release schedules, specially the less mainstream ones. We also support Windows and OS X, which do not have anything like apt-get. In those cases we use regular installers or the OS X App Store
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
gadders 14y ago
Hasn't Bitnami been going for years, though? (At least 4-5, I think). I'd be interested to find out why they took the Yc cash now.
- ridruejo 14y ago
  We are profitable and we certainly did not do it for the cash :) We did it for the advice. I know this sounds trite, but they have been incredibly helpful in taking BitNami to the next level and they have done it before which companies like Heroku, which we look up to.
  - gadders 14y ago
    Fair enough! I hope you get everything you want out of the deal. I've been a fan of your products for a while. They were great when I was working at a bank and it was a quick way to get something up and running for a demo quickly.
ErikRogneby 14y ago
Is the pricing just for the one click launch? Or have the public AMIs you've been maintaining gone away and it's all pay to play?
- ridruejo 14y ago
  No, nothing has changed and we are not doing anything 'evil' :) The pricing is for our hosting service, which also has a free tier. We will continue to provide the AMIs for free.
javipas 14y ago
Fantastic news for the guys at Bitnami. I met Daniel López at LinuxCon 2012 in Barcelona and he let us all know there that they have an interesting proposal. I'm still missing some Nginx love on your stacks, btw, but I guess it'll come eventually.
socialized 14y ago
I have worked with Daniel and Erica (the Bitnami execs) for the last five years. They are smart and they have been steadily growing Bitnami for a while now. Their appliances make deploying and updating a snap.
troymc 14y ago
The BitNami Cloud Hosting Features page [1] doesn't say anything about how easy (or how difficult) it is to update an application (or stack). Will I be notified if there's a new version available? Can updates be automated? Other "managed hosting" providers make updates a big selling point. For example, check out the marketing copy at Page.ly (managed WordPress hosting) [2]. [1] http://bitnami.com/cloud/product-tour http://bitnami.com/cloud/product-tour [2] https://page.ly/features/ https://page.ly/features/

54 points by ridruejo 14y ago

njx 14y ago

I see only open source applications. Can someone offer commercial applications that are not open source?

ridruejo 14y ago
Yes, commercial apps are coming soon to the platform. We already provide commercial versions of Liferay and SugarCRM in our Cloud Hosting product
- njx 14y ago
  Would it be like just providing you the complete package and installation steps or is there some kind of integration required?
  - ridruejo 14y ago
    Right now we handle all the packaging, but over the next few months you will be able to provide your own apps on top of the platform. We want to make this process as painless as possible :)

bradleybuda 14y ago

I've used BitNami a number of times and their product is incredibly polished and has a huge library of server apps. I needed to test some of our software with a couple of different versions of Drupal and I was able to spin up running instances in just a few minutes, without touching a command line. It's definitely a big step up from just launching an AMI.

northisup 14y ago

Don't we already had an app store for servers called apt-get?

wmf 14y ago
Imagine that you don't know how to use a command line, then look again.
- Nursie 14y ago
  So ... synaptic? I know, there are likely use-cases not addressed by these tools that others can fulfill, but Synaptic does work as Graphical apt/aptitude
  - wmf 14y ago
    VNCing into a full GUI on a server just to run Synaptic seems like a waste, although I guess Windows admins do the equivalent. But as ridruejo said, most Web apps still require significant and often arcane configuration after you've gotten everything installed. (Arguably this is the app's problem to solve...)
    - ridruejo 14y ago
      In many cases it is not even the configuration of the application itself, which tends to be complex in general, but getting all the third-party dependencies (libraries, gems, servers, etc.) that is the pain, specially if the latest versions of any component is required. This tends not to be an issue for well known apps like WordPress, but it is for the less mainstream ones...
    - Nursie 14y ago
      Wait so... command line is bad and when I suggest you don't have to use that, a GUI program is also bad? What answer were you looking for there?
ridruejo 14y ago
apt-get works for system libraries but not really that well for high-level apps which have different requirements and release schedules, specially the less mainstream ones. We also support Windows and OS X, which do not have anything like apt-get. In those cases we use regular installers or the OS X App Store

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

gadders 14y ago

Hasn't Bitnami been going for years, though? (At least 4-5, I think). I'd be interested to find out why they took the Yc cash now.

ridruejo 14y ago
We are profitable and we certainly did not do it for the cash :) We did it for the advice. I know this sounds trite, but they have been incredibly helpful in taking BitNami to the next level and they have done it before which companies like Heroku, which we look up to.
- gadders 14y ago
  Fair enough! I hope you get everything you want out of the deal. I've been a fan of your products for a while. They were great when I was working at a bank and it was a quick way to get something up and running for a demo quickly.

ErikRogneby 14y ago

Is the pricing just for the one click launch? Or have the public AMIs you've been maintaining gone away and it's all pay to play?

ridruejo 14y ago
No, nothing has changed and we are not doing anything 'evil' :) The pricing is for our hosting service, which also has a free tier. We will continue to provide the AMIs for free.

javipas 14y ago

Fantastic news for the guys at Bitnami. I met Daniel López at LinuxCon 2012 in Barcelona and he let us all know there that they have an interesting proposal. I'm still missing some Nginx love on your stacks, btw, but I guess it'll come eventually.

socialized 14y ago

I have worked with Daniel and Erica (the Bitnami execs) for the last five years. They are smart and they have been steadily growing Bitnami for a while now. Their appliances make deploying and updating a snap.

troymc 14y ago

The BitNami Cloud Hosting Features page [1] doesn't say anything about how easy (or how difficult) it is to update an application (or stack). Will I be notified if there's a new version available? Can updates be automated? Other "managed hosting" providers make updates a big selling point. For example, check out the marketing copy at Page.ly (managed WordPress hosting) [2]. [1] http://bitnami.com/cloud/product-tour http://bitnami.com/cloud/product-tour [2] https://page.ly/features/ https://page.ly/features/