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Local-First Software Is Easier to Scale

(elijahpotter.dev)
175 points chilipepperhott | 5 comments | 05 Jul 25 15:54 UTC | HN request time: 0.249s | source
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mkagenius ◴[05 Jul 25 18:47 UTC] No.44474681[source]▶
Three clear advantages of a local first software:

1. No network latency, you do not have to send anything across the atlantic.

2. Your get privacy.

3. Its free, you do not need to pay any SaaS business.

An additional would be, the scale being built-in. Every person has their own setup. One central agency doesn't have to take care of all.

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1. Brian_K_White ◴[05 Jul 25 19:21 UTC] No.44474889[source]▶
I think you missed the most important thing, more than any of those, if there is no service, then the service cannot delete or deny access to your data.

And related, if there is no service, then the service cannot fail to secure your data.

No possibility of a billing or login error, where you lose access to your stuff because they just think your're not current or valid when you are.

No possibility of losing access because the internet is down or your current location is geo blocked etc.

No possibility of your account being killed because they scanned the data and decided it contained child porn or pirated movies or software or cad files to make guns or hate speech etc.

Those overlap with free and privacy but the seperate point is not the money or the privacy but the fact that someone else can kill your stuff at any time without warning or recourse.

And someone else can lose your stuff, either directly by having their own servers broken into, or indirectly, by your login credentials getting leaked on your end.

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2. jeffbee ◴[05 Jul 25 19:27 UTC] No.44474924[source]▶
> the service cannot delete or deny access to your data... the service cannot fail to secure your data.

You, on the other hand, are much more likely to do one or both of these things to yourself.

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3. scott_w ◴[05 Jul 25 20:25 UTC] No.44475276[source]▶
I’ve seen this happen in a previous job where the IT team of a customer deleted years worth of financial records because they didn’t know about it when they cleaned up the server. Our CEO had to go and help them rebuild their books, at great cost to the customer!
4. hansvm ◴[05 Jul 25 20:38 UTC] No.44475358[source]▶
If we're tallying such things up, I've had those sorts of major issues with Trello, Google, Navionics, FitBit, FixD, and a number of other companies over the years. My local data on the other hand has had zero issues.
5. Brian_K_White ◴[05 Jul 25 21:46 UTC] No.44475823[source]▶
I will never decide that my kids doctor photos are child porn and delete all my own access to both my email and phone number to access my own bank and retirement accounts.

The fact that a hard drive can break and you can fail to have a backup is not remotely in the same class of problem of living at the whim of a service provider.