Cloud computing is a trap

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Web applications such as Google Mail will force people to buy closed, proprietary systems that will eventually cost more and more, as the free software fighter claims.

The concept of using web applications, such as Google Mail, is “worse than stupid,” according to a leading free software advocate.

Cloud computing — when IT power comes from the Internet, rather than being drawn from your desktop — has gained popularity in recent years. Large Internet and technology companies, including Google, Microsoft and Amazon, are promoting their plans to deliver information and software through the network.
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But Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation and creator of the GNU computer OS, said that cloud computing is just a trap designed to attract more people to buy proprietary systems that are closed over time and will cost more and more.


"It is nonsense. This is worse than stupidity - this is a marketing company aimed at deceiving, ”he said in an interview with The Guardian.

“Some say it’s inevitable - and whenever you hear someone say it, it’s almost certainly one of these companies designed to make it a reality.”

A 55-year-old New Yorker says that computer users should want to keep their information in their own hands, and not pass it on to a third party.

His comments echo the statements made by Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, who criticized the activity of cloud computing announcements as "fashion-based" and "total gibberish."

“In cloud computing, it’s interesting that cloud computing includes everything that we are already doing,” he said. “The computer industry is the only industry more fashion-based compared to the women's fashion industry. Maybe I'm an idiot, but I do not understand what everyone is talking about. What is it? This is absolute gibberish. This is madness. When will this idiocy stop? ”

The growing number of users storing information on servers accessible via the Internet, instead of using their computers for this, was the basis for the growth of Web 2.0 applications. Millions of people are currently uploading personal data, such as email, photos, and, increasingly, work data, to sites owned by companies like Google.

Computer maker Dell recently tried to get the rights to the cloud computing brand , although this application was denied.

But there is a concern that the emergence of cloud computing in the mainstream can be a mixture of privacy issues and property rights, with the potential of locking files from their own owners.

Stollman, who advocates privacy, advised users to stay on their own local computer.

“One of the reasons why you shouldn’t use web apps is that you lose control,” he said. “This is as bad as using proprietary software. Perform your calculations on your computer program respecting freedom. If you use a proprietary program or someone’s web server, you are defenseless. You are in the hands of those who developed this system. ”