| I like the term local-first software and I think p2p collaboration (think: protocols other than HTTP, e.g. to prevent nation-wide censorship or decentralized / synchronized via local means during emergencies) and e2e encryption are amazing features. Possibly increased performance for local sync is a nice benefit as well. That said, the article and most of the comments here somehow talk about or even compare to The Cloud and I don't think that is particularly relevant. The cloud has nothing to do with companies owning all the community data (user relationships, crowdsourced information). Facebook, twitter, reddit etc. are not "the cloud" The cloud has little to do with data privacy concerns. Self-hosting exists and it is not a problem of trust in infrastructure. Self-hosting on AWS should be considered safe for all but the most extreme cases (legally forbidden content?) The cloud has little to do with proprietary data formats. It is absolutely possible to build a SaaS with proper import/export protocols. Financial incentives are misaligned, not technical. An example is excalidraw (https://excalidraw.com/). AFAIK they don't use CRDTs but they are what I would consider local-first. Here, local-first adds the features mentioned above. In addition to that it is self-hostable from a small local raspberry pi to a proper server in someone else's data center / "The Cloud". I would propose more use of the cloud for something like this. If self-hosting became easier then perhaps more people would care for open data (access & standardized formats).
A managed, serverless and on-demand model seems perfect and could enable non-technical people to host their own collaborative whiteboards or photo galleries or chatroom for family & friends. |