General FAQ

What is Fusebox?
Fusebox is a standard framework for building web-based applications.
Does Fusebox cost money?
No. Participating in the Fusebox community and using the Fusebox framework has been and continues to be free.
Where can I learn more about Fusebox?
More details on Fusebox, including the most current Fusebox core files, are available at www.fusebox.org. This site also has a Resources section with links to many other sites which offer tutorials, examples, and services for Fusebox developers.
Why should I use Fusebox?
There are many benefits to using Fusebox. Here is a short list:
  • Join thousands of other developers in using a standard architecture
  • Large, involved, and growing developer community
  • Best practices approach developed over a number of years by highly skilled developers who kept encountering the same problems time and again
  • Increased productivity
  • Increased code reusability
  • Easier code maintenance
  • More productive team development
What does the license really mean?
Simply put, the license allows you to use the Fusebox core files in nearly any way you wish, but you cannot redistribute derived files and call them Fusebox nor can you distribute the core files without the licensing information.
What happens if I modify the core files?
Nothing. But under the license, you cannot distribute the modified core and call it Fusebox.
Are there any restrictions on my use of the core files?
The license explains the restrictions, but in a nutshell you are prohibited from modifying the core files and distributing them yourself as Fusebox. You may modify them for your own use. You may modify them and distribute them without making reference to Fusebox.
Do my modifications have to be contributed back to the community?
Technically, no. It's a good idea to offer them, but there's no requirement to contribute changes back to the community as may be required by other licenses.
Does using Fusebox to build an application raise any intellectual property issues?
No, you may freely use the Fusebox framework and distribute programs you write using it. Please read the license information for further information.
Where can I participate in the Fusebox Discussion Forums?
The Fusebox Discussion Forums can be found at: http://forums.fusebox.org
What programming tools are needed to develop with Fusebox?
Fusebox applications can be created with any text based development tool or even a basic text editor like Notepad or TextEdit. Fusebox 4 and above use XML, so having XML friendly tools is often useful.
Why did you chose Farcry to build the Fusebox Web Site?
Team Fusebox's vision for the website is "The Fusebox Website is the one stop shop for Fusebox and is the focal point for the community. It should be easy to update and contribute to". The main reason for a CMS is to enable members of the community to be able to add articles and edit content. Under the prior website it has take months, if not years, for content to get updated.

We want to manage content on the site. Documentation, articles, tutorials, events. All things that a CMS excels at. Fusebox is great for managing applications, but it isn't a content management system. We chose FarCry over other CMS's specifically because it was a ColdFusion CMS. Why Farcry and not a Fusebox CMS? There didn't seem to be a full featured Fusebox commercial-grade, open source CMS out there and we didn't want to wait for one to be developed to get the new site up. We do have the ability to create more dynamic portions of the website in Fusebox and wrap it in FarCry for navigation and we fully intend to do so.

Team Fusebox and Michael Smith doesn't think it makes us less of a site to use a comprehensive solution. What it does do is open us up to easier maintenance by more people. Our vision is that all the people on the different groups will be maintaining their own areas of the site, with the proofreaders and content managers doing the approval process. The more people able to work within the process, the easier it is on all of us. And the more good information we can give the people who need it, who have been doing without for a number of years.