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On 2006-07-14T00:56+0100 James Fidell wrote: > If it's really that good, why did people start moving away from > mainframes? > Centralised server-based computing vs. distributed computing go in and > out of fashion on a regular basis, probably a couple of times each in > the last twenty years. At one point people were using mainframes and > minis with dumb terminals, then desktop technology started evolving and > people started using their desktop machines for more and more work, > until the likes of Sun and Oracle went mad on the whole "thin client" > thing six or seven years ago, but advancing desktop technology again > swung the pendulum the other way. Lets focus on just data. The Web/Internet platform isn't centralised. Most of the machines that stick around are called "servers". I am not going to sort out what you mean by "distributed computing". I am suggesting we can keep data more secure, with better integrity on this "internet" platform, than my home PC. I am not necessarily suggesting you keep all your data with Google. There are quite a few hosting companies out there who charge only a few dollars a month for 30-odd Gig with hourly, daily and monthly backups. And you could use more than just one company, keeping copies of your data synced with Subversion for example. Earlier is this thread it was suggested this strategy is amateur, which I found surprising. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html