Hello and welcome to the blog.
That time is upon us. I don’t know if you hear sleigh bells jingling, or if they’re ring, ring, ring-a-ling too. But what I can tell you is that it’ll be a Christmas like no other.
It’s today that I’m realizing just how much 2019’s might end up known as ‘the last normal Christmas’. I say that – because this pandemic has changed so much about our world that I feel like I can unironically say ‘it’ll never be the same’.
But that’s okay. Things change all the time.
And this is no different. It’s not the time to shudder. Humanity’s faced great odds all throughout our storied and complex history. So as we prepare to feast. To let tradition and consumerism cascade into their final holiday form. We take a moment and remember. To remember to accept some change because change itself is inevitable. The wondeful take-away from this thought is simple: For all the change we witness, we also get to take part in it. We can shape some of that change and make it what we want. Or what we need.
So while our last installment talked about the change that came on strong on the heels of our pandemic – this one will narrow in on some of the changes in our online world. Ones that were made purposefully. And we’ll get to contemplate if those changes were made on the backs of brilliant dreams or the stuff of nightmares.
A lump of coal for you.
Earlier this year we heard about how cPanel & WHM increased costs on the back of their recent acquisition. A hard pill to swallow, many hosts had to adjust course if they wished for their business to stay afloat. Others simply couldn’t. For those who sought out a new path, a creative new approach began to take shape. This is where we started seeing other panels garnering more attention. Panels like DirectAdmin, which could only stand to profit from the shift over at cPanel & WHM.
I’d say this was a bad idea. Terrible, in fact. cPanel & WHM had a real opportunity to push for increased trust with their customer base, instead of raising prices once acquired. Doing so would have played counter to everything we see in the modern business world. Capital companies investing and bettering the delivery or cost instead of exacerbating them. Such an act would have renewed trust. Maybe driven sales, and increased the value of their reputation in the industry.
But instead we just got more coal.
Just when the world began to deal with the price shift, another blow was dealt to cPanel & WHM when CentOS announced their own shift. CentOS 8 is losing support, and the focus is going to CentOS Stream instead. This big shakeup boils down for hosts to one simple fact – the change in support for their traditional cPanel-server operating system means that a new solution is needed.
And several are starting to get paraded around. It’s at this point that I should say we’re only getting the coal if we’re too hung up on our choices.
This year you’re gift will be choice.
In the end that’s right. Choice. Who would have thought that in 2020 that we’d be talking about freedoms? Choices? But it’s true. We are.
See, we can STILL host on cPanel & WHM. Despite it’s changes and challenges moving into 2021 it still carries weight and it’s hands-down one of the strongest platforms out there. So for those who enjoy it – you can still do it. And you can still be a successful host with what we’ve already come to know and love in a lot of ways. But, these changes also mean we have choice because now we can use what the changes tell us as a fulcrum. We can shift on that information and do whatever we feel will best benefit us as hosts and business people. As website owners and regular folk who just like to share and read opinions online. The goals and vision of the individual will guide the decisions we all make next.
Whatever you unwrap this year, know that it’s you who gets to choose.