I work for a host which depends on cpanel. I've co-written an application similar to Fantastico called QuickInstall and it integrates with cPanel. (well, I did the rewrite - don't blame me for version 1!).

cpanel is mind bogglingly stupid. It packages its own Perl binary which is incompatible with a lot of modern modules and features. The API has way too much unnecessary cruft. On top of that, the interface is hideous and unorganized.

I pushed to rewrite it but apparently people really depend on it and will jump ship.

I do think there is a huge opportunity in the market for a cpanel competitor that is far more user friendly. Integration the chef would be good also.

Well, competitors have existed since a decade ago, but many have also died. The closest competitor now seems to be Plesk, but it hasn't been able to snatch the crown from cPanel yet. If I remember it, Plesk 7 or 8 for Windows is a mess. All software suck :)

It seems the biggest issue is that cpanel/plesk makes it easy for non-system administrators to setup a web hosting company. I don't think a cpanel competitor could solve that problem.

that's exactly it! It makes running a hosting company an easy, point and click affair -- and that is somewhat the point I am trying to make.