Cloud computing blasted as ‘hype’

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Clouded view: Software guru Richard Stallman

Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation, has warned that cloud computing is mainly hype and that companies risk losing control of their data if they buy into such systems.

Stallman said that cloud computing posed a serious danger, as businesses and individuals would lose direct control over their data by handing it over to third parties.

Speaking to The Guardian, he said: “It’s stupidity. It’s worse than stupidity: it’s a marketing hype campaign,” he said. “Somebody is saying this is inevitable – and whenever you hear somebody saying that, it’s very likely to be a set of businesses campaigning to make it true.”

He warned that computer users should keep their personal data on their own computers where it was secure, rather than trusting it to third parties. He said that by storing data in the cloud, users were “putty in the hands of whoever developed that software.”

“One reason you should not use web applications to do your computing is that you lose control,” he said.

“It’s just as bad as using a proprietary program. Do your own computing on your own computer with your copy of a freedom-respecting program. If you use a proprietary program or somebody else’s web server, you’re defenceless.

Stallman said cloud computing was not going to be a cheap option. Users would end up paying more for their computing time than if they had managed their systems themselves.

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