Local-first software. You own your data, in spite of the cloud

https://www.inkandswitch.com/local-first.html

• Cloud is convenient, but you don’t have your data. Services dies - you loose your data
• They suggest a set of principles of “Local-first software”:
  • work offline
  • work collaborative (gdoc, trello, etc)
  • across multiple devices
  • improve security, privacy
  • user controls the data
• PRINCIPLES
  • No spinners: your work at your fingertips. Should not require roundtrip to server

    

  • You work is not trapped to one device (sync to servers in background)
  • The network is optional
  • Seamless collaboration with your colleagues. Biggest challenge
  • The Long Now. Your work should be accessible indefinitely, even after the company that produced the software is gone. No more “we close the product” for SaaS.
  • Security and Privacy by default. End-to-end encryption.
  • You retain the ultimate control. No problem on service side will stop your access.
• Several examples: email, gdoc, trello, dropbox, git
• CRDT is a foundation technology. Link to a lot of CRDT papers.
• Automerge https://github.com/automerge/automerge examples (video + exampl app)
  • Trellis (Trello analogue)
  • PixelPusher (collaborative drawer)
  • PushPin (Media canvas)
• Findings:
  • CRDT works
  • Conflicts are not as significant a problem as we feared.
  • Visualizing document history is important
• IMHO:
  • The idea gets the best from Local Apps and SaaS.