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by sprin 3844 days ago
This was interesting at first glance - it's very approachable in it's simplicity, and I can see it having an impact on the typical Google app user. Something like this could be a useful resource for people who may not think about the consequences of their dependence on proprietary cloud apps. I think most people don't think about the fact that Google (or any other cloud app provider) can and does shutdown their apps or significantly change the Terms of Service, usually with very limited options to migrate their data elsewhere.

FOSS cloud apps aren't subject to arbitrary shutdowns or unwelcome changes to the ToS. This is a huge, obvious advantage that most cloud app users don't realize. I think supporters of FOSS cloud apps should have something concrete to point to that shows the fragility of proprietary cloud apps.

However, I would not use this website as a reference for the following reasons:

- No citations! It reads as if it is pure opinion without any citations.

- It's hard to find evidence for some of the claims. Google+ shutting down? Is that pure speculation?

- No place to discuss app status in the app. Comments or a wiki should be offered.

- Closed source, no way to send pull requests for updates/corrections.

The page has a prominent link to the author's Patreon. This comes across as litte more than link-bait to draw traffic to the Patreon page, and a hit-piece on Google. The potential benefit to cloud app users gets lost.

(edit: formatting)