Software data ownership and portability
Open file formats, an interoperable ecosystem, and self-hosting options ensure we have the power to manage our digital assets on our own terms.
I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. However, I had no clarity on how to address this concern. So, I started to save interesting takes on this subject. I found a few philosophies and some interesting thoughts.
TLDR;
Proprietary formats and cloud platforms limit our freedom. I advocate for open file formats and self-hosting to give users full control over their data.
High commissions and restrictions in app marketplaces suffocate innovation. Hoping for an open, interoperable ecosystem where creators can move their work freely without being locked into specific tools or platforms.
The issue
I knew that something was bugging me with the software (design tools specifically) and its way of evolution. When I realized that I could publish a design with Framer, it was like a totally different experience for me. I went all into the platform, but after a point, I started to lose interest and temporarily stopped because I had this feeling that, I did not own that site or its code, even if I paid.
I mean, I can see, create, and modify. But at the end of the day, I have nothing. Everything is connected to an account. I’m not owning that creation. I can't export and migrate to somewhere else easily.
That felt different, What if this platform (or any platform) stops its service tomorrow? Or change their pricing? Or terminate our account for some reason? Or what if we found a better platform that we want to migrate? Even if they're well-funded, these questions have been bugging me for a long time now. Recent experience is from Skiff. I don't want to get stuck when a shutting down, transition or an acquisition happens.
I think it is time to start rooting for open development.
The philosophy
Over time, I gathered valuable perspectives that helped me make connections and see patterns in this particular issue. However, the picture wasn't clear until I faced the problem. This blog is inspired by these quotes and the entire Obsidian platform.
Jordan Singer - Product, Design, Engineering at AI, Figma
Steph Ango - CEO of Obsidian
Andrej Karpathy - Former director of AI Tesla and a founding member of OpenAI
In a tweet (Jan 18, 2021) / Jordan Singer
“Waiting for the day that design infrastructure companies are a thing. Think what Twilio’s infrastructure enables developers to build as to what a theoretical design infrastructure company could enable for teams building design apps and tools. Wanna build the next Figma? Use [X design infrastructure company]’s infra and APIs.
We’re all working on a 2D canvas with support for colors, styles, etc. Do we need to reinvent the wheel with every new tool?
Imagine a standard underlying design document representation that can easily be transported between the apps that live on X infrastructure. Design tools working more collaboratively together with each other instead of being private sandboxes.”
File over app (Jul 1, 2023) / Steph Ango
“File over app is a philosophy: if you want to create digital artifacts that last, they must be files you can control, in formats that are easy to retrieve and read. Use tools that give you this freedom.
File over app is an appeal to tool makers: accept that all software is ephemeral, and give people ownership over their data.”
Love letter to Obsidian (Feb 25, 2024) / Andrej Karpathy
“TLDR: This is what software could be: private, secure, delightful, free of dark patterns, fully aligned with the user, where you retain full control and ownership of your data in simple, universal formats, and where tools can be extended and composed.”
Vendor lock
I’m a big fan of no-code tools. But the fact that we're tied to a subscription or a platform, is something that I see as a roadblock. I mean, I don't want to migrate now or cancel, but it feels really different when we're told that we're locked in.
Take Figma or Framer. Both tools work in the cloud, which I like. But if you think for a moment, most of these are all closed ecosystems with their proprietary extensions.
.fig is a proprietary format specific to Figma design software.
.sketch is a proprietary format specific to Sketch design software (Not available on Windows and the web).
.penpot is an open-source format associated with the Penpot design tool (extension is connected with the brand, so that’s an issue)
.free is an open-source format for vector graphic files designed to be compact, human-readable, back-compatible, and optimized for multithreaded parsing. Lunacy designed .free to address the issues available in .sketch when it comes to very large design files.
.xd is a proprietary format specific to Adobe XD design software (The tool itself is going away).
InVision Studio is no more, I don’t even remember the extension.
You already know .psd and .ai
Framer doesn't even provide an export option (I understand and appreciate the features, but this is also a limitation).
There’s SVG in all these though.1
The fact that Adobe has lost its edge2 in the web and mobile design space serves as evidence that a new platform, with its unique extension, could emerge as the successor to Figma. Eventually, we might find ourselves needing to migrate to this new platform, and I believe that transition won't be without its challenges.
For example;
InVision is discontinuing its design collaboration services
And they said this in the follow-up email (Sat, Mar 16, 2024).
If you haven’t begun exporting your content, please remember that there’s no bulk export option available. You'll need to export each document individually. Please keep in mind that our Support team will not be able to export documents on your behalf.
Bringing your designs to Penpot
Figma import in Lunacy
There is still a big list that they do not support.
Remember the Photoshop file corrupted error?
A big frightening experience we faced years ago. Hours of work just gone like that…
Once enterprises have invested in a product, it becomes costly and challenging to switch to a different vendor, effectively locking them in. This lock-in effect ensures recurring revenue and customer loyalty for the company in the long run.
So it is understandable that it is a pain if we lock our data into a format we can’t retrieve completely. Imagine the time we spend on a single design file!
Substack and Note-taking apps
I love Substack! But even their export feature is only text and images from the posts. Audio and video content are not included in the export; we have to save the original files elsewhere. Migration will not be easy if it ever comes to that.
But I remember, the transition from Medium to Substack was super easy, like submitting a single link and all the posts were here with credits!
My favorite note-taking apps - Obsidian, Anytype, and Capacities all provide a markdown (.md) formatted file.
What happens to my data if Anytype goes away one day?
“Everything is stored on-device, so even if Anytype goes away, your data will not. You will always have access to the app and can export your data in universal formats that can also be imported into other apps. As our code and file format is open, you always can compile the app, run your own infra and maintain the software yourself.”
From the File over app
“These days I write using an app I help make called Obsidian, but it’s a delusion to think it will last forever. The app will eventually become obsolete. It’s the plain text files I create that are designed to last. - Steph Ango”
They also provide one more open file format for infinite canvas data, JSON Canvas. Originally created for Obsidian. It can be implemented freely as an import, export, and storage format for any app or tool - open source.
The main feature of all these apps is that, they all provide the fundamentals absolutely free and without any ties. I think it’s safe to say 100% user-supported. Becoming a paying customer feels like the right move when the time is right, both to support the products I enjoy and ensure their continued development.
Even the new gen social media is liberating; Bluesky: An Open Social Web
Cloud storage or peer-to-peer file synchronization?
Now come to the storage mode. I’ll clear one thing up first. I don't want to face data loss ever again. The incident is mentioned in this blog.
Storing data on the cloud raises valid concerns about privacy, security, and service reliability. Addressing these issues is crucial.
There will be privacy-invasive trackers in the platform’s own cloud storage system. Constantly monitoring a file! If a file is in an open format, third-party storage providers might train AI in this file and its data. Remember the fuss over Dropbox’s default AI toggle? I’m not saying this is the case, but it is a chance.
Service providers shouldn't learn from our work, without consent. We pay for tools and support, so data control should remain with us by default. Users deserve the freedom to choose how their information is handled, maintaining privacy and ownership.
I only used Obsidian on a single device in the beginning. But when I needed multi-device syncing, I looked at their pricing, but it was more than I could afford and there was no country-based pricing.
So I looked for alternative methods. That’s when I heard about Synthing.
“Syncthing is a continuous file synchronization program. It synchronizes files between two or more computers in real-time, safely protected from prying eyes. Your data is your data alone and you deserve to choose where it is stored, whether it is shared with some third party, and how it’s transmitted over the internet.”
Interesting, right?
What I suggest is the Proton Drive + Synthing method. It just works and I can easily open files on my phone, tab, and laptop in real-time.
Our work files and ideas belong to us and we deserve complete privacy. That's why our data should be stored on our preferred services, inaccessible to the tool provider.
Marketplace lock
Now this is another serious concern rising in these times. As companies try to make more profit each quarter, they tend to lock something up and introduce new methods. Slowly some of them will become a monopoly.
Marketplace commission makes all apps and digital goods more expensive. It goes on top of the price we pay to developers. We pay more for every app/plugin/add-on, even though we already bought a phone, a system, or even an app. In short, we keep paying even after we have paid.
Big tech takes a 20-30% cut of the app store money earned by most independent makers. The cut makes many potentially profitable apps unsustainable, reducing app innovation. Billions in developer revenue taken away that could have improved app quality.
There might be other policies that will block an app’s growth.
A monopoly abuses its market dominance at the expense of millions of users who are trying to monetize their own content.
Apps can’t function outside of big tech's guidelines.
Developers must support both iOS and Android to be socially relevant, and can't avoid the duopoly (A well-polished PWA is the solution here).
Meanwhile Android allows sideloading and competing app stores, unlike iOS.
Some apps might not be available due to censorship, and other country-based restrictions.
We need to have an account to use a marketplace and every action is tied to this creating a lack of privacy and making us an easier target to track and show ads.
I acknowledge that the commission allows marketplaces to maintain the store, but ~30 is too much, don't you think?
From a creator and developer point of view, marketplace lock is a burden.
Yes, I understand that it provides safety and security. I also understand that regular users may be attacked by scammers and fraudsters if there is no middleman to regulate, however, there shouldn't be a monopoly that decides how things run and it's essential to find a middle ground that allows for a secure and open app ecosystem.
The ideal app distribution
With Windows, we can download apps from any website, choose whether to create an account or not, and opt for premium features if needed. This flexibility gives us control over our app experience.
Before the world switched from desktop to mobile, app developers already had many thousands of users and paid zero commission to desktop OS creators.
Now for another example, I like Telegram's and Obsidian’s way of app distribution from their own site. It just works seamlessly and no delay in anything.
I wish more trustworthy platforms chose this way to distribute their apps.
At the end of the day, it is up to us – consumers and creators – to defend our rights and to stop monopolists from stealing our money. They may think they have tricked us into a deadlock because we’ve already bought a critical mass of their devices and created a critical mass of apps for them. But we shouldn’t be giving them a free ride any longer.
Pavel Durov (Founder, CEO at Telegram) ▪ Jul 28, 2020
Expanding Obsidian's concept to PDF, EPUB, DOC, etc formats would transform the way we interact with a document. We don't have to worry about any shutdown news or an out-of-the-sense subscription price hike.
The below video is from the movie, Steve Jobs (2015). Steve Wozniak has been a vocal proponent of open systems throughout his career.
Video credits to the owners.
Conclusion
The software helps us to turn our ideas into reality. Essentially, they're tools that make achieving our goals and expressing our creativity easier and more accessible. So we shouldn't be locked into some proprietary format.
I’m familiar with the quote “A bad workman blames his tools”. But I’m not blaming tools here, I just want to clarify that.
What I’m saying is that digital tools should be open, highly customizable, and extensible. The whole point of being familiar with tools is to shape them to our unique needs, right?
It's time to ditch proprietary formats and cloud platforms that hold our work hostage. Build an open, interoperable ecosystem where our ideas can flow freely between tools and platforms, ensuring longevity and portability.
I also believe this should be a collective movement.
While SVG is a valuable format for vector graphics, it doesn't encompass the broader project data and editing functionalities found in proprietary design software formats - Google Gemini.