Detailed Summary

1. You own your data, in spite of the cloud. <br /> Section summary: <br /> Local-fist software tries to solve the problem of ownership, agency and data lock-in present in cloud-based software, without compromising cross-collaboration and improving user control.

Section breakdown<br /> §1: SaaS<br /> Pros: Easy sync across devices, real-time collab Cons: loss of ownership and agency; loss of data is software is lost.

§2: Local-fist software<br /> - Enables collaboration & ownership - Offline cross-collaboration - Improved security, privacy, long-term preservation & user control of data

§3 & §4: Article Methodology<br /> - Survey of existing storage & sharing approaches and their trade-offs - Conflict-free Replicated Data Types (CRDTs), natively multi-user - Analysis of challenges of the data model as implemented at Ink & Switch - Analysis of CRDT viability, UI - Suggestion of next steps

2. Motivation: collaboration and ownership<br /> Section summary: <br /> The argument for cross-device, real-time collab PLUS personal ownership

Section breakdown<br /> §1: Examples of online collabs<br /> §2: SaaS increasingly critical, data increasingly valuable<br /> §3: There are cons<br /> §4: Deep emotional attachment to your data brings feeling of ownership, especially for creative expression<br /> §5: SaaS require access to 3rd party server, limitation on what can be done. Cloud provider owns the data.<br /> §6: SaaS: no service, no data. If service is shut down, you might manage to export data, but you may not be able to run your copy of the software.<br /> §7: Old-fashioned apps were local-disk based (IDEs, git, CAD). You can archive, backup, access or do whatever with the data without 3rd party approval.<br /> §8: Can we have collaboration AND ownership?<br /> §9: Desire: cross-device, real-time collab PLUS personal ownership

3. Seven ideals for local-first software<br /> Section breakdown<br /> §1: Belief: data ownership & real-time collab are compatible<br /> §2: Local-first software local storage & local networks are primary, server secondary<br /> §3: SaaS: In the server, or it didn't happen. Local-first: local is authoritative, servers are for cross-device.

3.1.1 No spinners<br /> SaaS feels slower because if requires round-trip to a server for data modification and some lookups. Lo-Fi doesn't have dependency on server, data sync happens on the background. This is no guarantee of fast software, but there's a potential for near-instant response.<br /> 3.1.2 Data not trapped on one device <br /> Data sync will be discussed in another section. Server works as off-site backup. The issue of conflict will also be discussed later.<br /> 3.1.3 The network is optional<br /> It's difficult to retrofit offline support to SaaS. Lo-Fi allows CRUD offline and data sync might not require the Internet: Bluetooth/local Wi-fi could be enough.<br /> 3.1.4 Seamless collabs<br /> Conflicts can be tricky for complex file formats. Google Docs became de facto standard. This is the biggest challenge for Lo-Fi, but is believed to be possible. It's also expected that Lo-Fi supports multiple collab.

TBC

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