2009-05-01

Why doesn't Bluehost support SVN?

They actually actively shut down svn server processes (svnserve) from their servers.

But over what service agreement do they hold the right to prevent users from running svn on their accounts? If you check Bluehost TOS (terms of service) at bluehost.com/cgi/terms, you won't find anything about ssh or linux account accepted usage and limitations, thus leaving Bluehost prohibitions to free interpretation. However, what you will find is pieces of text assuring its clients that Bluehost has the intention to satisfy all of their reasonable needs:

1. 03. "BlueHost.Com intends to provide the best possible web hosting service to each of its Subscribers. BlueHost.Com is also dedicated to staying abreast of new and available technologies that will better serve our Subscribers." ...

New tech. yeah right, what about full VERSION CONROL? Bluehost users have been begging for svn support for years now, and the technology isn't even that new anymore.

7. 01. "What "Unlimited" means. BlueHost.Com does not set an arbitrary limit or cap on the amount of resources a single Subscriber can use. In good faith and subject to these Terms, BlueHost.Com makes every commercially reasonable effort to provide its Subscribers with all the storage and bandwidth resources needed to power their web sites successfully, as long as the Subscriber's use of the service complies with these Terms." ...

Is SVN support too commercially un-reasonable?

7. 02. ... "BlueHost.Com will make every commercially reasonable effort to provide additional resources to Subscribers who are using their website(s) consistent with these Terms, including moving Subscribers to newer and bigger shared servers as necessary." ...

I only ask that you give me svn! Why do Bluehost limit badwith by killing svnserve processes?

According to 11. 03. Bluehost has the right t monitor user's activity on their account. Fine, but it does not give them the right to shut down processes such as svnserve. I recently chatted with Bluehost support and asked about svnserve, they told me that "they don't allow svn on their servers" so I asked weather they deliverately shut down the process, to which they only answerd "svn won't work in bluehost, sorry". Why don't they just tell me "YES we killed svnserve"? Because they know they have no right to do so!

Even if svnserve doesn't die, or if you set up a cronjob to restart it, the ports are shut. Bluehost doesn't allow the svn net protocol. You can, of course, run it though svn+ssh without the need of svnserve but then the svn client is constantly asking for your coount password, which is quite anoying. Maybe you can ser it up to use a ppk without pasphrase, but that only makes your account really unsecure.

It's about time Bluehost starts responding to their clients' demands. I invite you all (bluehost users) to leave a comment in this post, with your bluehost username, theatening Bluehost with changing to another hosting provider to let them know we mean business.

8 comments:

  1. Que tal jop soy el enyel, quisiera saber en cristiano que es SVN...
    ¿¿¿¿¿????

    ReplyDelete
  2. SVN o subversion es un estándar para control de versiones en el código fuente de una aplicación en desarrollo. http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subversion

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wasted whole day triing to make svn work without ssh.
    No success.

    Thanks for this post.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for the post! I am a bluehost customer, and so far I didn't need a svn, but maybe in the near future I would need one... Do you know if most host companies allow it?
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  7. as mentioned in the post, you CAN actually use svn on bluehost; over ssh.

    ReplyDelete
  8. hello everybody

    I just thought it would be good to introduce myself to everyone!

    Can't wait to get to know you all better!

    -Marshall

    Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete

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