Proposal for the new Fedora Project

[Rick Sewill]

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On 10/01/2010 06:30 AM, Stephen Gallagher wrote:
> On 09/30/2010 05:44 PM, Mike McGrath wrote:
>>> I'm no lame duck, I swear.  This is a pretty dramatic proposal, my hopes
>>> are it will generate much discussion.  It's no secret I'm not big on the
>>> future of the desktop[1].  With great reflection and further research I've
>>> come to realize something else.  Google is about to destroy just about
>>> everyone.  There's a tiny handful of people that don't like the idea of
>>> cloud computing and information "in the cloud".  The majority of the world
>>> though in love with it or will be and not know it.  The problem: Free
>>> Software is in no position to compete with the web based applications of
>>> the Google of tomorrow.
> 
> 
> "There's a tiny handful of people that don't like the idea of [...]
> information in the cloud". One of the biggest flaws in democracies and
> populism is that, sometimes, the majority is flat-out wrong. People are
> convinced through advertising and propaganda that one thing is true,
> even when a minimal amount of thought would demonstrate otherwise.

I hesitate to comment, being new to this list.
Please ignore me if appropriate.

I'm trying to understand the current discussions goals in regard to
cloud computing.

I think of cloud computing as a cluster of remote hosts.
I think of companies having remote facilities with access to that cloud.

The company may purchase service from a cloud provider or create its own
cloud.

I think of the hosts in the cloud, the method of accessing the cloud,
and the client hosts at the remote facilities.

Nothing above mentioned the "Internet".  The method of access might
involve the Internet or might involve dedicated, private lines.

I ask myself what customers are ideal for cloud computing.

I can see businesses being early adopters of cloud computing.
The computing needs of businesses change and cloud computing offers ease
of adding or removing resources.
There is a central point for backup and a central point, hopefully, for
security controls.
Businesses can, and will, get reasonable access to methods to the cloud.
Businesses can, and will, get reasonable pricing for client hosts at the
local facilities.

In time, perhaps, home users will start to use cloud computing.
Having backups would be nice.  I agree, security is an issue.
Another issue is the method of access to the cloud; home users, like me,
will use the Internet and will not have the highest or most reliable
method of access to the cloud.

Perhaps my view of cloud computing is wrong.  If so, please correct me.

Now, I ask myself, if the above is close to what people mean when they
say cloud computing, what problem is this discussion, in this list,
trying to solve?

I would like the idea of having Fedora hosted computers in the cloud.

Who would use this cloud?  Is this cloud dedicated to Fedora developers?
 Is this cloud available to Fedora users who barely know how to manage a
PC, to use, so they can surf the Internet, play games, use GnuCash to
balance their checkbooks, use OpenOffice, etc?

Depending on the purpose of this Fedora cloud, what kind of access is
needed to this cloud?  If the remote client is doing editing and
compiles and builds, the remote client may not need the same high-speed,
low latency access the remote client would need if the remote client
were going to play a MMORPG real-time game.

What kind of client hosts would the remote client need?  Arguably, the
remote client host could be a very lightweight, "Live" CD booted, host,
with minimal or no local storage.  This host might run Linux, might run
Fedora Linux, or might run something else that supports any, of a number
of versions of remote desktop be it a remote X client, remote desktop,
VNC, you name it.

This brings me my questions:
What is the purpose of the current discussion about cloud computing
people are talking about on this list?  Is the Fedora cloud meant for
developers, end users, or what?

Is this cloud being discussed on this list a "Fedora Cloud" meant for
Fedora people alone, or is this discussion how to enable businesses to
use Fedora (and RHEL) when they provide cloud computing to themselves or
their customers?

There are other questions that come to mind, but those will get answered
if these are answered.

I will limit myself to this email, hoping it is on topic, and adds
something to the discussion.
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