Back to basics, please! A comment on Nextcloud

Many users distrust established cloud storage providers. This is an opportunity for Nextcloud if the project gets its priorities right, says Niklas Dierking.

(Image: Hans Jürgen Marhenke)

Jun 17, 2024 at 1:55 pm CEST

2 min. read

c't Magazin

By

Niklas Dierking

This article was originally published in German and has been automatically translated.

For years, we have shoveled our personal data into the cloud storage of big tech companies. 5 gigabytes for free here: "Oh, it's already installed, fine." 10 gigabytes for free there: "I already have an account anyway, what's the point?" However, the realization is slowly dawning that if these services cost nothing, you are the product. Cloud fatigue is spreading.

Niklas spielt im Team Systeme & Sicherheit. Dort schreibt er hauptsächlich über Linux, Container und Selfhosting. Er ist Fan von Open Source, schläft aber auch gut, wenn das proprietäre Spotify-Flatpak auf seinem Rechner installiert ist. Im Zweifel ist es ihm wichtiger, dass sein Rechner funktioniert (und Musik spielt), als dass ein GNU-Guru den Quellcode gesegnet hat. Seine Leidenschaft für Linux begann mit openSUSE 10.2 und KDE 3, nach viel Distrohopping ist er inzwischen glücklich mit Fedora. Freunde zeigen sich manchmal irritiert von der Ausdauer, mit der Niklas einem technischen Problem nachforsche. Damit ist er bei c’t aber zum Glück in guter Gesellschaft.

At a time when training data for AI models is becoming increasingly scarce, the data stomachs of Microsoft, Google & Co. will soon be growling more than ever. You might think that the time has come for alternatives such as Nextcloud. Simply create your own cloud, GDPR-compliant with a German hoster or - if you have the skills - even on your own hardware or on a rented server.

It is to be hoped that the project can seize the moment. Many people want software that works reliably, doesn't spy on you and, more importantly than ever, simply leaves you in peace. With Nextcloud, however, I unfortunately have the impression that the developers are increasingly being tempted to work on the "Everything App". A project where Elon Musk is failing with X, and he has far more resources at his disposal.

I see more integrations with other web services, more plug-ins in the Appstore, more - you guessed it - AI assistants. Higher, faster, further. On the other hand, there are reports of gaping problems on GitHub, and the Appstore is full of scathing reviews from users who have lost data due to an update. Open source projects don't have it easy. And when resources are limited, as a user I'm prepared to be a little lenient if things go wrong. But I can't understand why the developers are already breaking ground again, even though the current construction site is not yet finished. My request to Nextcloud: Concentrate on the essentials!