Tuesday, September 30, 2008

"Cloud computing is a trap" - Richard Stallman

Cloud computing is a trap, warns GNU founder. According to RMS,

"It's stupidity. It's worse than stupidity: it's a marketing hype campaign,"

His comments are very similar to those made last week by Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, who criticized the rash of cloud computing announcements as
"fashion-driven" and "complete gibberish".

Well, given the recent posts and articles I've read on cloud computing, I have to agree with some of these statements. But I wouldn't be too paranoid either, since there are cost and productivity benefits involved. Especially RMS's stance on using local computers for all things is a bit unrealistic IMHO.

The problem with Cloud Computing is that it's a buzzword. You know what the problem with buzzwords is? All those marketing people and the like love them. They would Google and Wikipedia the crap out of those and come up with elaborate, one-sided theories on how the said 'buzzword' will increase ROI, Productivity and Reduce Global Warming. At the end of the day, just as Gartner's trusted hype cycle dictates, those who actually implement these technologies (Engineering) will decide where they actually stand. So it's refreshing to see people like Larry Ellison and RMS with good credibility airing their views to add balance.