Re: [gentoo-user] OT: I want to get excited, but I just *know* they're going to mess it up...

[Mick]

On Friday 29 January 2010 14:09:37 Iain Buchanan wrote:
> On Fri, 2010-01-29 at 10:00 +0000, Stroller wrote:
> > On 29 Jan 2010, at 05:43, Iain Buchanan wrote:
> > > They got it right for being open to OSS, but they got it wrong with
> > > the
> > > word "cloud"...
> > >
> > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/sep/29/cloud.computing.richar
> > >d.stallman
> >
> > Seems like Stallman's objections don't apply because the proposal is
> > that they own their own cloud.
>
> I don't think his objections are just related to public vs private.  As
> Neil said, there's the security problem to begin with, where one large
> government data centre has more data to compromise that a small one...
>
> > I.E. the use of the word "cloud" is just buzzwordology to gain
> > approval & acceptance.
>
> ... Another problem is the use of the word "cloud" when already we don't
> know exactly what they mean by it (it sounds like a manager buzz word to
> me) so they're going to have trouble defining it to themselves, and
> other govt departments.
>
> But the principle still remains that they're handing over locally served
> (ie maybe a server, maybe a desktop) data to a central "cloud" that will
> put its own limits on security, size, etc.  Not to mention the
> separation of distance.  No matter how good your network link is, it's
> not as good as your SATA interface!  And at the worst of times you may
> loose not only your data, but your ability to create new data!
>
> > One could weigh the pros & cons of using regional data centres for
> > this, versus a server room in the basement of the individual
> > government buildings in Swansea (DVLA), Bristol (TV licensing) &
> > wherever, but I just feel too pessimistic about this today to feel
> > it's worth it.
>
> I'm all for data centres, since they can put massive CPU and storage
> volumes at the other end of the network link for you to work with
> (backups, web servers, etc) but it becomes very problematic when you use
> a web browser to write an office document.

I think they are thinking along the lines of Citrix XenApps and thin client 
(e.g. HP running Neoware-RHL) on the desktops.  This is what is being tried 
out currently in a number of offices/buildings.
-- 
Regards,
Mick