I still wonder about cloud computing. I don't think it will be replacing desktop computing forquite sometime at least, but I have to admit for some things, it really looks attractive. I'm trying to force my self to take advantage of KDE PIM software, Konqueror bookmarks, etc as I really feel like KDE will be my desktop of choice for a long time, but I have to admit it's not nearly as convenient as using services from Google.

For example, I am expecting a new laptop in a couple of days (yay!). Once it gets here and I have my prefered distro running (either Arch or openSUSE), I'll be manually copying over Konqueror bookmarks, Akregator feeds, setting up KMail (and downloading at least some of my past email from my mail server, imprting Kontact records, etc. All my docs, photos and music will need to be brought over and imported into Amarok, digiKam and KOffice (well not really the later, but in theory I'd be using that as well). It's not the end of the world, but it's a chore.

Plus, I'll have to start worrying about synchronization! How do I make sure that the most recent versions of my files are where I need them? I know there are plenty of tools to help mitigate this problem, but it is another issue with the conventional desktop computing paradigm (I love big words... ).

If I were using Google Bookmarks + FF or Chrome for browsing/bookmarks, Google Reader for RSS, GMail for mail, Googel Calendar et al for PIM, last.fm, flickr (or picasa), and Google Docs, I'd be done as soon as I logged in. Not only that, but all this information is available on any computer, anywhere.

As much as I hate to admit it, I don't see how classical desktop apps can compete fro these common tasks. The only thing preventing me from enjoying this computing bliss is a fear of some unknown, unamed threat that everyone knows must be there but no one seems to be able to conclusively identify. Security seems to be a big buzzword when critisizing the cloud. But does anyone honestly believe that their home network is more secure than Google? If your not a HR advocate or secret agent, do we really need to worry about malignent regimes geting access to the subject lines of email sent to coworkers and friends?

But see, I just scared myself again. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place. I don't see any best of both worlds setup here.

Set up a home server that you can log into remotely and store your data on that. Problem solved, and you don't have to rely on some unidentified server out in bumblef#@k.

Well, the Cloud (whatever that is) is good for two things: heavy duty processing and synchronisation. I dont know about you, but I'd much prefer my music was local, rather then streamed. I'd rather work on a text document on my machine then sync it to the cloud, then have the cloud sync it to my computer.

At the same time, I'd rather leave the concepts of the desktop, I'd much prefer it would follow me around, though this would not be normally possible, here's my idea;

You have a server, at home, or maintained by a company, etc etc...this server, naturally, has a webpage, though not one designed to be human readable. Any and every computer thus becomes a 'dumb terminal' (to use an old phrase) to access your 'computer', tablets, netbooks, laptops, desktops, etc etc. Should your machine require more processing power, it can rent it (or buy it)

That future, of course, relies on a good strong permant internet connection, so unless wireless tech moves really quickly, cloud computing's pipe dream will die. But I don't think it'll be the end of the idea altoghter...


Also, a KDE dev recently spoke about ownCloud.org which gives you the tools to setup your own 'cloud'. Apparently there are a few 'mini-servers' no bigger then your average wireless router which are cloud servers.

I don't go mobile much... maybe that's the crucial difference. I don't have a handheld mobile or a laptop; my wife does have a laptop (which come to think of it hasn't left her desk in months) but I don't use the things. Hate 'em. Almost all of my computing is done on my desktop machine at home.

Can you see how the cloud is attractive to someone with mutiple computers, then?

Given an option I like to use my home laptop, however being a webdeveloper, it's a rather easy task to set up your very own cloud and thus should I need to use the benefits that the cloud provides, I have the option. I double my website's server (from a shared hosting company I have a relatively close connection to) as my cloud and it's very reliable, no maintenance required on my part, and very much setup and go.

Being a student I do use campus computers quite a fair bit (they are trash, really) but actually I don't use my homegrown cloud as much - not because it isn't a good setup, but because given the alternatives such as SSH and NX, I'd much prefer the latter. Of course this doesn't work in a collaborative environment, where my cloud would be my choice, but it's an interesting notion to bring up.

I understand the option of a personal cloud, I've considered that myself. But is it possible for a home user with a cloud server behind their router to access their "cloud" from other loactions (on different lans)?

Anybody who has a computer that's on for most of the day can run a cloud. A LAMP setup is extremely simple to setup and there are plenty of free web apps and services like Dyndns that make this really simple to do.

I think the advantages of storing data remotely is pretty clear: access from anywhere, from any system, etc. I love how I can install a new OS and immediately access my email and other data. And also how I can access the same email from work, home and my cell phone and everything remains synced. That was always my issue with POP3 (and why before Gmail I'd always use IMAP when possible). I'd read an email at work and then go home and it wouldn't know I read it. Or if I set it so that it would be read when it downloaded the email from the server, there'd be situations where I wouldn't get around to reading an email at work, but then when I went home it thought I had read it.

Now for most of us here, since we're generally tech-savvy people, we realize that the capabilities of cloud computing can be accomplished by setting up and maintaining a home server. We're a minority, though. For the average computer user, which nowadays is just the average person since computers are pretty much ubiquitous, services like Gmail and Google Docs provide new capabilities that they don't know how to set up on their own and maybe didn't even know was possible. Another common property of the average computer user is they don't care or don't bother to think about issues of privacy and security.

All that being said, I still think there's advantages to cloud services for us techies. While we might be capable of setting up and maintaining our own cloud server, it still is going to take both time and money that we wouldn't spend using cloud services. The money part is especially important, I think. Even if you have an old computer lying around you can use, it's not going to be free because you need to power that computer 24/7 (or at least when you're not at home). Another major advantage I see is that the downtime of cloud services is generally extremely low. If I was running a home server, and something wasn't working, it would most likely remain that way until I got home and fixed it. Home network connections tend to be less reliable. I think we've all had times when our home network stopped working for whatever reason, but I've never had trouble accessing my Gmail account.

So in conclusion, I don't think cloud computing is a "fad", I think it's here to stay and it will continue to grow. Look at how Google is coming out with Chrome OS which relies on cloud computing capabilities, and it can be argued that all smartphones rely on this capability as well. In a way, cloud computing is following the same trend that almost any technology in human history has followed. A few thousand years ago, we all grew our own food and hunted our own meat, now companies do that for us and we buy it from them. Same thing with clothes. I think KDE needs to embrace cloud computing as much as possible unless we don't mind being something only computer geeks will want to use.

Well, my Google phone does that anyway; if I do a factory reset, my applications can be redownloaded (Google keeps a list), as are my contacts. Only things that arent are my SMS messages...

Very well put! I was simply raising a notion about homegrown clouds.

It most definitely is _not_ a fad. Smartphones rely on clouds to be successful, and that's definitely not something that's going to be replaced anytime soon.

I'm very happy to see that projects like ownCloud are coming out.

So am I, and I definatly want to be informed of news regarding hosting services for ownCloud!

Dude, I also grow my own vegetables and raise my own meat animals. I don't like relying on anyone else for anything, ever.

Regarding home network reliability, you're partly correct. My server has never, ever let me down, but my ISP has a time or three. I think it's a small price to pay for knowing where your data is and how it's being stored, protected, and accessed.

The whole constantly in touch, anywhere anytime paradigm that's come about in the past few years has sort of passed me by, to be honest. I don't own a cell-phone; never will. I don't carry a computer around on me so I can check my e-mail from all corners of the globe; never will. I don't even like answering machines; if it's that important, they'll call back! So if I can't access my server from my mom's house because my ISP is playing pocket pool instead of keeping the network running like they're supposed to, it's just not a very big deal to me.

Interesting way of looking at life, I must say.

2handband wrote:... So if I can't access my server from my mom's house because my ISP is playing pocket pool instead of keeping the network running like they're supposed to, it's just not a very big deal to me.

Well, I'm not sure the rest of us can say that very easily... I keep a lot of important stuff on my home server.