The Cloud OS is not an open source web based operating system
Martin Springer comments on the following article by Rod Boothby.
Commentary by Martin Springer:
In his article Cloud OS and the Personal Server Rod Boothby explains that content and services become more valuable when they can be shared between users. The solution offered by his company Teqlo enables users to integrate business processes and make them available through an open API. The objective is to build a community of users around the Teqlo platform.
Although I think that their approach is promising for a Web 2.0 startup I don’t think that Rod should call it the “Cloud OSâ€. As Andy Broyles already commented, a web service is not an OS. Moreover, their platform does not even function like a cloud. Since their platform requires a central server, Teqlo users are not only dependent on a centralized technical infrastructure, but also on a central legal entity being subject to Californian law. In their Privacy Policy they explain that they will reveal personal information of users to third parties (U.S. government, subcontractors) if necessary. While I do not deny that sometimes access to personal information might be needed (e.g. in case of a criminal investigation) I favour technical infrastructures that enable me keep control over my personal data:
* Dedicated server hardware (if necessary operated by an admin I trust)
* OS based on Open Source software
* APIs, interfaces and communication protocols based on open standards
* No centralized records of user data and use data
The “Cloud OS†will arrive, but it will not even be delivered by service providers like google, Yahoo, Teqlo etc. If Rod Boothby reconsiders the concept of a cloud he will understand that to create truly personal servers he will have to open source his tools and release them to the community in the same fashion as the WordPress developers did.