I'm a web developer, but I can't really use my skills to provide an open source web app the way I'd like to. I'd like to build a small server-side budgeting app that people can use from their computers or phones to record expenses, but there's no way I can ask people to find a web host that lets them run rails, or set up a heroku account or whatever.
So my only alternative would be to run the service myself, but then I'm storing other people's data, I have to worry about scaling if lots of people use it, and user accounts, and all this stuff.
The idea of sandstorm is folks run this platform on their personal servers, and then it lets you browse an app store like interface and one-click install these server side apps. So I'd bundle up my budgeting rails app as a sandstorm package, and if someone wants to track their expenses from a variety of devices, they install the app. Now they're running it so the data is theirs, there's no scaling issues, and user authentication is provided by sandstorm.
Sandstorm is still in its infancy so there's not a lot of apps available and the development APIs are being worked on, but I hope it's the future. It would lead to a more decentralized web with better privacy and users owning their own data.
I'm hopeful, if not optimistic, for a future where every family is expected to have their own little server running somewhere. And they access that server through the sandstorm web interface, and can easily add little apps to it. My budgeting app, a webmail app, some future federated profile app to replace facebook, etc.
You know, a picture might really explain it better. If it's something that sits on top of Linux and manages software installation, it's easy to illustrate.
So my only alternative would be to run the service myself, but then I'm storing other people's data, I have to worry about scaling if lots of people use it, and user accounts, and all this stuff.
The idea of sandstorm is folks run this platform on their personal servers, and then it lets you browse an app store like interface and one-click install these server side apps. So I'd bundle up my budgeting rails app as a sandstorm package, and if someone wants to track their expenses from a variety of devices, they install the app. Now they're running it so the data is theirs, there's no scaling issues, and user authentication is provided by sandstorm.
Sandstorm is still in its infancy so there's not a lot of apps available and the development APIs are being worked on, but I hope it's the future. It would lead to a more decentralized web with better privacy and users owning their own data.
I'm hopeful, if not optimistic, for a future where every family is expected to have their own little server running somewhere. And they access that server through the sandstorm web interface, and can easily add little apps to it. My budgeting app, a webmail app, some future federated profile app to replace facebook, etc.