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Cloud computing is a trap, warns GNU founder | Technology | guardian.co.uk

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In an interview with the Guardian, free software advocate and GNU founder, Richard Stallman, warns that web-based applications will force people to be locked into proprietary systems that will cost them more over time.

Cloud computing, where the processing and storage of data takes place over the Internet, is becoming more popular, as Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, and others build robust applications that can be accessed with a web browser.  Files can be stored in the cloud, and accessed from anywhere.

Now I would never go toe-to-toe with Richard Stallman, because I don’t have his smarts or experience.  But I am on the front line of IT, dealing ever day with users, and implementing technologies that I believe are best for our users and our organization.  I’m going to ignore Lisa Simpon’s sage advice – “It’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt” – and throw out my opinion on this topic.

First, the physical location of users’ data,

The 55-year-old New Yorker said that computer users should be keen to keep their information in their own hands, rather than hand it over to a third party.

C’mon, seriously, humans aren’t that bright – or maybe is just laziness.  Or maybe nerds like Richard Stallman have made technology too out-of-touch with regular, every-day users.  How many regular users back up their data?  How many users know how to back up their data?  If their docs are stored in the cloud, users don’t have to worry about backing up their data.  IT departments should be backing up users’ data, and IT departments should be making data stored on corporate servers accessible to users, whether they are in the office or not.

Talking about the control of users’ data, he says,

One reason you should not use web applications to do your computing is that you lose control.  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 defenseless. You’re putty in the hands of whoever developed that software.

You gain control of your data if it’s in the cloud, because you can access it from anywhere.  I don’t have to be sitting at my desk to work on a new business plan if my files are stored in the cloud.  I can be at a colleague’s office discussing the plan, or at the coffee shop, or even at the park and still be able to work on my business plan.  How many of us have just one computer these days?  And what about accessing data via mobile devices?  You can view (but not edit) Google Docs from your BlackBerry.  Cloud computing is about having control of when and where to work.

What about privacy and ownership,

But there has been growing concern that mainstream adoption of cloud computing could present a mixture of privacy and ownership issues, with users potentially being locked out of their own files.

Organizations with a lot of proprietary or sensitive data probably shouldn’t store those files in the cloud.  I mean, sure, cloud computing is not for everyone.  It’s probably impractical for larger organizations to store data in the cloud, or at least someone else’s cloud.  But those organizations should be creating clouds of their own to give their employees access to their files.  Sensitive data doesn’t need to be accessed from anywhere, but the rest of it should be.

Richard Stallman makes some excellent points.  Cloud computing is not without the risks.  But storing all your data on your laptop, or corporate servers comes with risks, too.  I think it comes down to weighing the risks of being trapped by the cloud against the benefit that can be gained by being able to access data from anywhere.