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Filed under: Linux, Open Source, Canonical

CouchDB dev unwittingly gives Ubuntu users cloud-based nightmares

You've likely heard about Ubuntu One by now - we've mentioned it a couple times here on Download Squad, and it's now making regular appearances on Karmic Koala beta desktops everywhere.

Canonical made it clear from the get-go that Ubuntu 9.10 was going to pack plenty of cloud functionality for both desktops and servers. One piece of that puzzle is CouchDB, which developer Elliot Murphy was overjoyed to announce has slipped in under the wire to beat the Karmic code freeze.

In his exuberance, he made the following statement:
"...and by the time Ubuntu 9.10 is released on October 29th every single Ubuntu user will have an address book stored in CouchDB that replicates with one.ubuntu.com, and Tomboy notes that are replicated via a web API at the application but then stored in CouchDB and carried along in the CouchDB replication that we have set up."
What Elliot meant, unfortunately, was that every Ubuntu user can -- not will -- have their data replicate. That tiny slip-up touched off a bit of crapstorm, with users at LWN reacting strongly to the implication that their data would be piped to Ubuntu's servers. Murphy later added a revised comment to the thread at LWN apologizing for the confusion.

Moral of the story: be extra careful when talking about private user data and cloud storage -- seems like it might still be a bit of a touchy subject.

Filed under: Linux, Canonical, Beta

Beta testing begins for UbuntuOne, but I'll stick with DropBox

Microsoft has Live Sync, Apple has MobileMe, and Canonical is now beta testing their own user data synchronization service called UbuntuOne.

The service works as you'd expect - set up your sync, access files anywhere, share your online items with anyone you choose. Currently lists two service levels - 2GB of storage is available free of charge, while an upgrade to 10GB will set you back $10 per month.

The service will likely provide a decent revenue stream for Canonical. As for me, I'll be sticking with DropBox on my Linux Mint laptop.

Not only does the DropBox pro account offer five times as much storage (50GB), there's also a $20 discount for paying annually - dropping the monthly fee to just over $8. On top of that, I can use DropBox to sync with my Windows desktop as well.

Perhaps the developers will amp things up a bit before UbuntuOne is finally released.

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