Stallman's new enemy: the cloud

[Evan Leibovitch]

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I just don't get this one.

Richard Stallman, recently interviewed, said this about cloud computing:

"It's stupidity. It's worse than stupidity: it's a marketing hype
campaign"
[...]
"One reason you should not use web applications to do your computing
is that you lose control," he said. "It's just as bad as using a
proprietary program. Do your own computing on your own computer with
your copy of a freedom-respecting program. If you use a proprietary
program or somebody else's web server, you're defenceless. You're
putty in the hands of whoever developed that software."

Now, I am working with a startup that's creating an online BI service
so have an obvious bias. But this sounds even more ludicrous than
usual, and is starting to sound like RMS is simply stuck in one
computing paradigm and refuses to accept others.

There are ways of ensuring, through interoperability and encryption,
that one can work with online services that support openness and won't
abuse your data. Discounting the whole cloud concept is starting to
make Stallman sound like he's defending not only software freedom but
also a single -- almost nostalgic -- way to deliver said openness.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/sep/29/cloud.computing.richard.stallman

Comments?
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