- We need to regain control over our digital life - Free, decentralized & open are key values - Connect people and make it easy to find them - Nextcloud tried to do this together with strong partners to avoid vendor lock-in

1. Nextcloud
Restore the Internet
Free, Decentralized, Open

2. Nextcloud
About Me
Björn Schießle
Federation Architect at Nextcloud
Free Software & License Expert at Nextcloud
Graduated Computer Scientist
Conducted research in Cloud Robotics
Joined ownCloud 2012 and later Nextcloud
Long time Free Software activist
mail: bjoern@nextcloud.com
www: schiessle.org
twitter: @schiessle

3. Nextcloud
Nextcloud
Why & How?

4. Nextcloud
How everything started
Stuttgart, 2011

5. Nextcloud
Why are we doing this?
"If privacy is outlawed,
only outlaws will have privacy."
- from the PGP manual

6. Nextcloud
Free Software
Use
Study
Share
Improve

7. Nextcloud
by Nicholas Canup (CC BY-SA 2.0)

8. Nextcloud
That’s what happened
● Spin-off of Struktur AG
– Spreedbox
Deutsche Bahn/ Vodaphone/ BNP-Paribas
● Goal: liberate your data!

9. Nextcloud
Our Focus
● Sustainable German company without
external investment
● Internal expertise rather than reliance on
consulting firms and outsourcing
● Direct access to engineering expertise
● Listen to customers, partners and users
● Explore solutions beyond simple file sync &
share

10. Nextcloud
Software Freedom for Everyone
by Moyan Brenn (CC BY 2.0)

11. Nextcloud
We want to be...
A healthy Free Software project.
With a strong company behind it.
But still independent from a single entity.

12. Nextcloud
We want to be...
A healthy Free Software project.
With a strong company behind it.
But still independent from a single entity.

13. Nextcloud
We want to be...
A healthy Free Software project.
With a strong company behind it.
But still independent from a single entity.

14. Nextcloud
That’s why we are here

15. Nextcloud
Restore the Internet
Free, Decentralized, Open

16. Nextcloud
The Internet was Born
by ESO/G. Bono & CTIO (CC BY 3.0)

17. Nextcloud
The Internet Today
by Jonathan Oldenbuck (CC BY-SA 3.0)

18. Nextcloud
How to solve the Problem?
● Social Networks
– Diaspora, GNU Social, Friendica, Hubzilla
● Communication
– Tox, XMPP, Briar, Spreed.me
● What about code hosting platforms?
– Gitbucket, Gogs, (Gitlab),...

19. Nextcloud
Solving the Cloud Problem
● Nextcloud
● Free Software → you control the software
● You know where your data are stored
● You control who has access to it
● Open Standards → easy to connect to
your cloud and with other clouds

20. Nextcloud
What is Cloud Federation?
● Know where your
data is stored
● Know who has
access to it
● Control the software
● But: it creates Islands

21. Nextcloud
What is Cloud Federation?

22. Nextcloud
Open Cloud Mesh
● Member since July
2016
● A initiative of GÉANT
Association
● Provide federated
cloud sharing for
research and education
across Europe, America
and Asia

23. Nextcloud
Share public Links
● Share public link
● Recipient adds the
public link to his
Nextcloud
● Receive federated
share from owner
● Owner see who added a
public link and can
control access to his
data

24. Nextcloud
Federated Cloud ID
● A unique ID to address a specific user on
a specific server.
● Looks like a email-address:
<user>@<server>

25. Nextcloud
Share like a normal User
● Use the share drop-
down to create
federated shares
● Recipient has to
accept it
● Same behavior as
local shares
● Same permissions

26. Nextcloud
Trust other Servers
● Trusted servers
exchange user
directory
● Trusted servers can
be added
automatically or
manually
● Auto complete from
trusted servers

27. Nextcloud
What we already achieved
A Open Standard implemented by
Nextcloud, ownCloud and Pydio

28. Nextcloud
What’s still Missing?
● Federated sharing beyond files
● Make it easier to find and connect people

29. Nextcloud
Federated sharing beyond files
● Nextcloud is a platform which enabled
much more than just file sync & share
● Share calendars and event across servers
● Share address books and contacts across
servers
● Call and chat with people across servers
(upcoming Spreed.me integration)

30. Nextcloud
Make it easier to find people

31. Nextcloud
Publish Public Information
Global
Address Book
Nextcloud 1
Global
Address Book
Global
Address Book
Nextcloud 5
Nextcloud 2 Nextcloud 4
Nextcloud 3
Publish
Publish
Publish
Publish
Publish

32. Nextcloud
Publish Public Information
Global
Address Book
Nextcloud 1
Global
Address Book
Global
Address Book
Nextcloud 5
Nextcloud 2 Nextcloud 4
Nextcloud 3
Ask
for
“John
D
oe”

33. Nextcloud
Publish Public Information
Global
Address Book
Nextcloud 1
Global
Address Book
Global
Address Book
Nextcloud 5
Nextcloud 2 Nextcloud 4
Nextcloud 3
Return:
john@
nextcloud5
doe@
exam
ple.com
...

34. Nextcloud
Publish Public Information
Global
Address Book
Nextcloud 1
Global
Address Book
Global
Address Book
Nextcloud 5
Nextcloud 2 Nextcloud 4
Nextcloud 3Share with or call:
john@nextcloud5

35. Nextcloud
Summary
● We need to regain control over our digital
life
● Free, decentralized & open are key values
● Connect people and make it easy to find
them
● Nextcloud tried to do this together with
strong partners to avoid vendor lock-in

36. Nextcloud
Thank You!
bjoern@nextcloud.com www.nextcloud.com Twitter: @schiessle