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Time for an Internet File System (IFS)?

I can’t tell if this idea is stupid & superfluous or not. It surfaced when I was trying to write a review for Xcerion (an “Internet OS” developer), and thought about what it would mean to work 100% in the cloud. The scenario that I bumped my head against was that unless you did all of your work inside a single “OS” (Google Docs & Sheets, for example, or on apps within the Xcerion platform), managing files and work scattered across the net, behind different passwords, formats, export capabilities, privacy policies, and more, would be a severe pain.

That is to say, what happens when you use Google Sheets, Zoho Writer, and Picnik on a daily basis to get things done, and Box.net as an online repository?

Perhaps I’m old school, but whether my data is in the cloud or in local storage, I still see value to centralization:

1. Being able to search and index all of my files
2. Being able to organize my files topically - i.e.: a spreadsheet for trip expenses, photos, letters, etc. from a trip all stored together (whether tagged, or in folders) as opposed to scattered across multiple services.
3. Not depending on the solvency of multiple companies to take care of my data
4. Being able to run a centralized backup function on all of my data (ironically, this probably means backing up my cloud storage to a local harddrive)
5. Being able to open a file created in one application in another (i.e.: opening a Word file in OpenOffice == opening a Google/Writely file in Zoho Writer) without a cumbersome import/export process

So - what I think I’m suggesting is an “Internet File System” that would let online applications save to and load data from a third party storage solution. This would include:

1. A Protocol: A standardized protocol for applications to implement on their end, and storage providers to implement on theirs that would manage the connection seamlessly between the two. The protocol might include two-way communication so that I could see how much space was left in my Box.net account from within Google Docs & Sheets.
2. Universal and Free: Note that this is a “protocol” not a product - it should be something like SOAP that anyone can implement. And FOSS’d.
3. Encryption and Authentication: I’d like to be able to give Google my Box.net password once, and have Google manage authentication with Box.net from that point forward. I’d also like the datastream between application and storage to be encrypted.
4. File Meta-Data Standard: Some sort of meta-data standard for the file objects that would be saved such that when looking in Box.net, I can click a spreadsheet file and have it open in Google Sheets where it was created.
5. Format Meta-Data Stardard: A central repository of DTD’s/XML Schema descriptions for data/file formats, to allow for easy conversion of file types between applications. I don’t want to be locked into a particular application by its format. Format owners retain ownership of their format (and could GPL it if desired), but regardless of ownership it should be available in parseable format for other to build converters around.

Ok - that’s a tall order to be sure. I have trouble imagining many companies wanting to give away control to that degree, and to that point, this post is more to plant a seed or spur discussion than anything. Plus, as noted, I may be in conceptual never-never land and all of this sounds really dumb.

At the end of the day, though, I want to jump into the cloud. I’m ready. I just don’t think the cloud is yet.

EDIT: Cloud Talk is getting some action out there. [via Techmeme]

applications, cloud, google, laszlo, s3, writely, xcerion, youos zoho

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