[VBbuilders] [globalvillages] Ning eliminates free networks

[Ralf Schlatterbeck]

I'm also crossposting to two of the original lists...
On Sun, Apr 18, 2010 at 07:13:46PM +0200, Franz Nahrada wrote:
> 
> Here comes the catch. I think that using the vendor-lock-in trick and not
> helping people to migrate elsewhere is a variant of blackmail.

I also think so. But to be blackmailed there are two factors:
- somebody who wants to blackmail others
- a willing victim to go into the trap

You have the choice: Only use a service which at least provides a way to
get your data out.

But: The data alone is nothing without the software. So you need a
service where you can export the data *and* have open source software
available to do something with the extracted data.
But the first part is the crucial one: If you have only the data,
software can be written...

I've written in my blog: http://blog.runtux.com/2009/08/04/106/
(and talked @Manchester http://blog.runtux.com/2009/11/03/148/)
about the problem of vendor lock-in in "cloud computing" which is almost
the same as "web 2.0 services", namely software as a service (SAAS).

This boils down to what the open cloud initiative has defined as cloud
computing openness: http://www.opencloudinitiative.org/node/27
For open content you ideally want to go for a free cloud with open APIs,
open formats, open source (software), and open data.

Note that facebook is no alternative to ning: People have been thrown
off facebook for retrieving their data:
http://blogs.sun.com/bblfish/entry/scoble_gets_thrown_off_facebook
http://blogs.sun.com/bblfish/entry/data_portability_scoble_explains

But the choice has to be made by customers (or non-paying users) of
these services: Don't use something where you lock in your data. Or your
data might be at risk, or locked in, or dead.

Doc Searls, co-Author of Cluetrain Manifesto and Editor of Linux Journal
has written about this in a blog entry called "Silos End"
(http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/05/01/silos-end/):
"These problems cannot be solved by the companies themselves. Companies
make silos. It's as simple as that. Left to their own devices, that's
what they do. Over and over and over again."

Ideally there would be a standardized service and hosters agree to use
the same software (maybe customized in the appearance) to host services
for users. A hosting standard for collaboration software. Starting with
the services Facebook, Xing, etc. are offering today. We want an
interchange format that everybody can use, export, import.

I think a standard for these types of services will leave us with a
network of hosters. This -- in comparison to the status quo today --
will be a distributed system, maybe a peer-to-peer system, not some big
players locking in users. A common standard will hopefully keep the
players honest.

To get there: Lets try to evaluate replacement software for Ning. Work
on interchange formats. A suitable format for contact information is the
"Friend of a Friend" (FOAF) format
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FOAF_(software) endorsed by the W3C
(http://www.w3.org/), this is part of the "semantic web" effort:
http://www.w3.org/standards/semanticweb/

When we get there, we've left Web 2.0 behind. The future is a
distributed system, lets call it Web 3.0.

Ralf
-- 
Dr. Ralf Schlatterbeck                  Tel:   +43/2243/26465-16
Open Source Consulting                  Fax:   +43/2243/26465-23
Reichergasse 131                        www:   http://www.runtux.com
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