Re: [tlug] RMS is at it again...again

["Keith Bawden" <keith@example.com>]

2008/10/3 Curt Sampson <cjs@example.com>:
> Fascinating. I must say, substitute "GNU" for "OSS" above and I'm right
> with Steven Hodson here:
>
>    Call 911, I'm almost agreeing with Stallman ... I don't agree with
>    the cloak of OSS self-righteousness that he drapes his words in but
>    I do when it comes to the idea that we are giving up control to who
>    ever is holding our data in any of those clouds. In someways this
>    is even worse than the control we might give up by using commercial
>    software on our own machines.
>

<Warning I work at Amazon. I don't work for or have anything to do
with AWS though.>

I do agree that RMS and Hodson has a point. However, I wonder what the
perceived or real difference (within the context of this thread at
least) there is between hosting data or services on a virt within a
cloud, a hosted SAN, SaaS or any other new-ish buzzword and using a
more traditional hosted service... The company hosting your
service/data in a more traditional and static way will have at least
some measure of access to it? Isn't a cloud just a more dynamic
version of the ancient hosted service/server/data model after all? How
is one more "stupid" when using one or the other.

Colocation (or hosting in your own server room/closet) is fine if you
have money and a locked rack or cage, support it yourself and no
network connection, but isn't anything else going to lead to someone
screaming that we are "more than stupid" for putting our data in the
hands of others to <insert nefarious evil plan here>? What about the
data that we entrust to carriers to spit around the place. What are
"they" doing with that? And what are all those Squid users doing with
the copies they control of my data in their caches? Should I panic now
or some time tomorrow?

Am I an idiot[1] if I ask or employ others to write software for me?
After all who knows what "they" will do with any of my data that they
or their code touches... If I had the ability to read through and
understand every nuance of the code I would write it myself. Or do I
have to trust another third party or community of unknowns[2] to
review it for me, and can I trust the result of that et cetera?

Having waffled on all that, I must admit that statements like this
from RMS or anyone else will at least, I hope, make some people think
a bit more about how and with whom they do host their data and
services. At least read what a company says they will and can do with
it, then sit back and hope "those" idiots do as they promised.

Regards, Keith

[1] In most cases yes, but specifically in this case I need guidance ;)
[2] Hopefully the most "trustworthy" are the open source communities
as their stuff is out in the wild and freely accessible by all and
sundry.