3 ms·

> The product is browser first and document history is stored locally so.. for throwaway documents then? browser storage is one of the worst data places imagi

by theamk 3y ago

> The product is browser first and document history is stored locally so.. for throwaway documents then? browser storage is one of the worst data places imagineable. Hard to backup, very hard for user to access, impossible to sync or share. And very unreliable too: many troubleshooting procedures for web apps start with "reset browser profile" or "clear site data"

RajT88 3y ago
The new and improved Pastebin
willsmith72 3y ago
"document history is stored locally" doesn't necessarily mean "document history is not stored in the cloud/elsewhere"
- SahAssar 3y ago
  It sort of does. Not in a strict semantic sense, but I don't think any user of a service that says it stores stuff "locally" expects it to upload that to somewhere else without explicit consent. It sounds like your interpretation is like if I said "our data is stored on our servers" but that actually meant "our data is stored on our servers, but also on AWS, GCP, Azure, Alibaba and shared with FSB, CIA, CCP, and the public and other parties (including but not limited to the Royal Bhutan Police)". That would be true, but misleading to the point of being meaningless or (hopefully) potentially criminal.
  - willsmith72 3y ago
    I guess, but local-first is a huge movement which means exactly "data is stored locally" AND usually "data is synced to the cloud" Just saying it's not a novel concept if that's what they're doing (I couldn't tell from the article)
    - SahAssar 3y ago
      There is a huge difference between "document history is stored locally" and "works offline". The local-first movement might sometimes talk about privacy and offline availability in the same breath, but those are very different concerns and if someones says "data is stored locally" then I assume they should check both the privacy and offline boxes but with a huge "I might loose all my data" caveat. If it still uploads my data to some cloud then I would not describe it as "document history is stored locally".
qingcharles 3y ago
I assumed it was letting you store it on the local filesystem, not in the browser storage, which I agree is a bad place to store anything. There is one site I use that stores my favorites in the browser store and I had to write two JS bookmarklets so I can import/export my settings on a regular basis because pretty much every time Chrome crashes you can be assured that all my cookies and storage data gets zero'd out.

by theamk 3y ago

RajT88 3y ago

The new and improved Pastebin

willsmith72 3y ago

"document history is stored locally" doesn't necessarily mean "document history is not stored in the cloud/elsewhere"

SahAssar 3y ago
It sort of does. Not in a strict semantic sense, but I don't think any user of a service that says it stores stuff "locally" expects it to upload that to somewhere else without explicit consent. It sounds like your interpretation is like if I said "our data is stored on our servers" but that actually meant "our data is stored on our servers, but also on AWS, GCP, Azure, Alibaba and shared with FSB, CIA, CCP, and the public and other parties (including but not limited to the Royal Bhutan Police)". That would be true, but misleading to the point of being meaningless or (hopefully) potentially criminal.
- willsmith72 3y ago
  I guess, but local-first is a huge movement which means exactly "data is stored locally" AND usually "data is synced to the cloud" Just saying it's not a novel concept if that's what they're doing (I couldn't tell from the article)
  - SahAssar 3y ago
    There is a huge difference between "document history is stored locally" and "works offline". The local-first movement might sometimes talk about privacy and offline availability in the same breath, but those are very different concerns and if someones says "data is stored locally" then I assume they should check both the privacy and offline boxes but with a huge "I might loose all my data" caveat. If it still uploads my data to some cloud then I would not describe it as "document history is stored locally".

qingcharles 3y ago

I assumed it was letting you store it on the local filesystem, not in the browser storage, which I agree is a bad place to store anything. There is one site I use that stores my favorites in the browser store and I had to write two JS bookmarklets so I can import/export my settings on a regular basis because pretty much every time Chrome crashes you can be assured that all my cookies and storage data gets zero'd out.