Local-first software is a software data management strategy andphilosophy that stores a user's functional data on their own devicerather than on the company's servers, ideally in a manner that allowsthe user to trivially access this data offline or with externalprograms. Think programs like \`git\` and their ability to allow usersto develop software on their own at any time, anywhere, in adecentralize fashion, then sync it with some external source of truthwhen available.

The research lab Ink & Switch has inparticular been a major proponent of this organizational strategy (seetheir article - local-firstsoftware - forelaboration), though it hasn't yet infiltrated industry. It's used in avariety of niche personal knowledge management solutions, such as Roamand Obsidian, but hasn't yet found a place in the average computeruser's software arsenal yet.

Motivation

Much of today's cloud-based software traps user data in proprietarysilos, preventing end users from freely using their data however they'dlike.

Generally, it's good to be able to access data offline or to be able toextract it! This prevents companies from being able to hold data hostageand extract value from something that users have presumably onlyprovided to the company in order to use it themselves.

This also saves users a lot of time. It seems senseless to have tomanually input complex, computerized information when switching productsor services, but data siloes typically prevent this from happeningeasily.

Locally Encrypting

https://blog.excalidraw.com/end-to-end-encryption/https://www.edwinwenink.xyz/posts/41-function_creep_encryption/https://matt.might.net/articles/practicing-privacy-encryption/

Counterarguments

People have internet connections everywhere nowadays. Why should I care about using data offline?

There are a variety of ways in which internet can be deprived from you.Dependence on the internet for regular tasks is dangerous!