www/philosophy who-does-that-server-really-serv...

[Richard M. Stallman]

CVSROOT:        /webcvs/www
Module name:    www
Changes by:     Richard M. Stallman <rms>       10/05/08 14:18:57

Modified files:
        philosophy     : who-does-that-server-really-serve.html 

Log message:
        Clarify first explanation of SaaS.  Clarify spyware point.
        Using a search engine to set up the search for your own site
        is SaaS.

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.14&r2=1.15

Patches:
Index: who-does-that-server-really-serve.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /webcvs/www/www/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html,v
retrieving revision 1.14
retrieving revision 1.15
diff -u -b -r1.14 -r1.15
--- who-does-that-server-really-serve.html      20 Apr 2010 17:48:23 -0000      
1.14
+++ who-does-that-server-really-serve.html      8 May 2010 14:18:51 -0000       
1.15
@@ -48,8 +48,9 @@
 server that does certain computing tasks&mdash;running spreadsheets,
 word processing, translating text into another language,
 etc.&mdash;then invites users to do their computing on that server.
-Users must send their data to the server, which returns the
-results.</p>
+Users send their data to the server, which does their computing on the
+data thus provided, then sends the results back or acts on them
+directly.</p>
 
 <p>These servers wrest control from the users even more inexorably
 than proprietary software.  With proprietary software, users typically
@@ -65,18 +66,16 @@
 <p>Furthermore, SaaS automatically leads to harmful consequences
 equivalent to the malicious features of certain proprietary software.
 For instance, some proprietary programs are &ldquo;spyware&rdquo;: the
-program sends data about users' computing activities to the program's
-owner.  Microsoft Windows sends information about users' activities to
-Microsoft.  Windows Media Player and RealPlayer report what each user watches
-or listens to.</p>
+program sends out data about users' computing activities.  Microsoft
+Windows sends information about users' activities to Microsoft.
+Windows Media Player and RealPlayer report what each user watches or
+listens to.</p>
 
 <p>Unlike proprietary software, SaaS does not require covert code to
-obtain the user's data.  By the very nature of SaaS, users must send
-their data to the server.</p>
-
-<p>SaaS gives the same results as spyware because it requires users to
-send their data to the server.  The server operator gets all the data
-with no special effort, by the nature of SaaS.</p>
+obtain the user's data.  Instead, users must send their data to the
+server in order to use it.  This has the same effect as spyware: the
+server operator gets the data.  He gets it with no special effort, by
+the nature of SaaS.</p>
 
 <p>Some proprietary programs can mistreat users under remote command.
 For instance, Windows has a back door with which Microsoft can
@@ -151,8 +150,10 @@
 
 <p>Services such as search engines collect data from around the web
 and let you examine it.  Looking through their collection of data
-isn't your own computing in the usual sense, so these services are not
-SaaS.</p>
+isn't your own computing in the usual sense&mdash;you didn't provide
+that collection&mdash;so using such a service to search the web is not
+SaaS.  (However, using someone else's search engine to implement a
+search facility for your own site <em>is</em> SaaS.)</p>
 
 <p>E-commerce is not SaaS, because the computing isn't solely yours;
 rather, it is done jointly for you and another party.  So there's no
@@ -294,7 +295,7 @@
 
 <p>Updated:
 <!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2010/04/20 17:48:23 $
+$Date: 2010/05/08 14:18:51 $
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>
 </div>