The Cr-48 and Chrome OS: Google's vision of the net [LWN.net]

The Cr-48 and Chrome OS: Google's vision of the net

Posted Jan 18, 2011 11:18 UTC (Tue) by lmb (subscriber, #39048)
Parent article: The Cr-48 and Chrome OS: Google's vision of the net

I really like the idea, and am connected almost always. The cloud as a central data storage and synchronization service is clearly a big win.

However, two things are missing for me: off-line mode that actually makes sense (because I am not always on, think 12h inter-continental flight), and open protocols, which for me includes the ability to connect to private sub-clouds (e.g., my own servers, or my company's), and not just the big vendor lock-in.

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The Cr-48 and Chrome OS: Google's vision of the net

Posted Jan 18, 2011 12:51 UTC (Tue) by jhs (guest, #12429) [Link]

That is exactly the point of CouchDB: offline operation and open protocols.

As I said in my other comment, it is very early days. There aren't turn-key applications. Most work is still on developer tooling. But the idea is to run CouchDB (free software) on all your devices. Applications use the local couch, which replicates your data set to and from a cloud (not the cloud, but any cloud; your cloud) over HTTPS, depending on the policy of the user, institution, regulatory environment, or whatever (you might say "free data").

CouchDB has a free software cluster edition (BigCouch) using the Amazon Dynamo architecture built by our very able competitor, Cloudant. CouchDB ships in Ubuntu Desktop and it runs on Android and Maemo with ideally more to come.

P.S. I also fly 12h intercontinental flights all the time. The downtime (and subsequent jet-lag) sucks. I hope sea travel comes back—not a cruise but a modest, Internet-connected, voyage where I can work the whole time and not be jet-lagged!