This looks like a possible solution to the "careless computing" problem:
http://unhosted.org/
I found this explanation easier to follow:
https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Unhosted
"Unhosted apps are web applications able to run locally in your browser –
because they are pure JavaScript, like many web apps already. You identify
with your user address which then connects your remote storage to the app,
loads your data and decrypts it locally – all in your browser, nothing
leaking to the app server.
"This makes it easier and highly secure for users: You have your data in one
place, like a »My Documents« folder that you can use with web apps. And you
don’t need to get a separate account for every application you use, nor
export and import it over – you only remember your storage user address.
Your data is not being snooped or encumbered in proprietary platforms. It
also makes it easier for app developers because they neither have to worry
about hosting all the data and user accounts nor about server load – all
the computing takes place in your browser. With the app being just JavaScript
it becomes very easy to develop and deploy new apps which everyone can use.
Technically speaking, we define a standard combining things like WebFinger,
OAuth, WebDAV, Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS), preferably BrowserID and
ideally with end-to-end-encryption on top." (NextNet mailing list, October
2011)"
"Manifesto for the unhosted web
Freedom from Web2.0's monopoly platforms.
Free/libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) frees us from having to install
proprietary software on our terminals. But installable software is losing
ground to hosted software (websites). The server software is often open
source (e.g. LAMP), but the website itself as a software product is almost
always proprietary. There is an obvious reason for this: Even if an Affero
license allows us to download the website's source code, only a commercial
company can finance the thousands of servers needed to host a successful
website. To make things worse, hosted software has more power over its users
than installable software, because it forces you to put your user data on
servers owned by the same company that publishes the software. If you want to
use Google Docs, you have to reveal your work to a Google-owned server (what
Richard Stallman calls "careless computing").
Unhosted
I left my dayjob and started the UNHOSTED project to try and stop this. We
needed to break the one-to-one link between the software publisher who writes
a website (e.g. "Google, Inc") and the "hostage provider" who hosts that
website (e.g. also "Google, Inc"). Unhosted creates a simple grease layer in
the form of an open web standard (UJ/0.1) between the hosted software and the
servers that host it, so this is decoupled."
I know people here have some firm opinions about the pros and cons of
javascript and what is required to solve the Javascript Trap. Curious to know
what you all think about this approach.
