Nostr Web Client

I know the "cloud" is the big thing, but I predict a return to local software/hardware at some point.

The cloud is just someone else's computer. Whatever I thought the benefits were at one point (I can't even remember) no longer outweigh the cost and loss of control.

There will always be a need for offsite backups and internal clouds, but I just don't see the appeal as an individual anymore. I'm even looking into ways to have 'offsite' backups that I still control.

One idea I've had is syncing to devices in my vehicle, home, and any other space I control. This has downsides, but one location going down wouldn't cause total data loss. It's proven to be quite an engineering task.

Factors to consider include device power needs (like in a car), the effect of weather on devices (hot/cold car), security, sync technology (Syncthing is promising), how often I can be in each place for a sync, etc. Cell connected devices may be a solution here.

I think it's possible and could become easier for average people with enough time and work.

aljaz 1y ago

Cloud is not going anywhere anytime soon. Everyone screaming for self hosting is rarely people who actually run large scale infrastructure.

Cloud infrastructure is a force multiplier for any individual, team or business. Of course it has privacy, 3rd party risk and tons of other implications but waving of cloud like some self hosted devices solve everything is beyond naive.

What we need is to make cloud better, not trying to convince people that they need to become part time sysadmins herding their pet raspis at home.

The amount of cloud infrastructure and rented servers I have deployed would be insanely capex prohibitive. Also it kills half of the startups before they even start if the first thing you do is you need to buy 50k worth of hardware.

Confidential computing, ecash and removing the need for ipv4 space addressing can improve hosted compute by orders of magnitude while still providing much of the same services. The solution is forward, not backwards.

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Discussion

Greg Simon 1y ago

I completely agree with you from a business standpoint. But I think the reasoning that nostr:npub1l6scds4yv7xmcsmhqnhdy9sggm520q09lvts2m5mkvecgr2mmmeqsuj5rc has is also valid from a consumer's perspective. It's very Bitcoin-esque to begin questioning the centralization of all digital aspects of your life, not just money. However, from running an EC2 server myself on AWS, the cost effectiveness, reliability and performance is unmatched. That is not to say that self hosting as an individual for your own private files has no substance. But rather we must be clear on what makes sense and what doesn't for cloud computing.

Matt 1y ago

I thought I made it pretty clear that I was talking about my own individual perspective and concerns about average people doing this today.

It turns out that not every human on the planet values the same things. Some of us are and will be willing to make certain tradeoffs. Hardware also gets cheaper over time, so what is too expensive today won't be in the future. What is technically hard today won't necessarily be in the future (which is why I commented on this becoming easier for average people in the future).

Basanta Goswami 1y ago

What's confidential computing?

Matt 1y ago

I said in the post that I was writing this from my individual perspective.

I said there will always be an application for cloud computing.

I don't see it as a multiplier for myself in every aspect, which is why I stated that this is my perspective. You don't get to decide this for everyone.

I never said that self hosting solves everything. In fact, I said the opposite.

Who are you to decide what is and isn't forward for everyone? I've found that going back to local solutions in some aspects has been better for me.

You really injected a lot into this that simply wasn't there. Just because I think many will return to local software/hardware in the future (especially since hardware gets cheaper), doesn't mean I'm saying cloud computing will go away.

You seem to think you're the defacto source for what is best for everyone. It's entirely possible that some people will value different things than you. It's already happening. And I clearly stated my concerns regarding the difficulty for average people to do this currently.

Matt 1y ago

For the record, I happen to agree that improving cloud computing is a good idea. It can serve some people very well who might not otherwise have access to it.

But I also think we should improve self-hosting and sovereign computing for those who, like me, benefit more from computing we can fully control where possible.

It's crazy to imagine, but maybe more than one thing can be true. It could be that many will benefit from cloud computing AND many will go back to local for different benefits (they already are). My goal was to highlight my experience and thoughts on what some people may do in the future.

I'd like to make ownership of computing easier. You seem to make cloud computing easier in the current landscape. Awesome. It really isn't one or the other and that wasn't what I was trying to say.