i should be working (but i'm fixing my computer).

So ... I fired up the demo Canonical/Ubuntu OpenStack.  Which naturally was not without self-inflicted problems (my spare machine has problematic video).  So... I fired up the demo OpenStack in safe mode.  And, I followed the how-to.  And, I then had a "instance."

...

Yes, it was simple, but what do I have?  I was expecting to have a running server I could log into from the internet, but not quite.  If I understand (and I probably don't) I have a running test instance on a single machine.  It sets up a bridge network and then you ssh into your instance and tada! you have a command prompt.

So much for that.  Now you know that you need Canonical engineers to do the "real" install for you.  But the real mistake in this sales tool is that you have to be a cloud engineer to know what you've got and why you want it, in which case you probably do not need Canonical to help you.  It's scalable and quick to deploy, conserves resources and is hypervisor and Ubuntu friendly.

And I don't see how it helps me do anything I need to do, so let's move on.  So, I checked out "owncloud", which appears to be a file sharing/backup cloud solution with a music player (that didn't work for me in their demo).

I think there is a failure to define mission.  Or, in any event to meet MY definition, which is the one I care about.  Quite frankly, there is a lot more "cloud" implementation by projects that don't specifically claim to be building a cloud application.  Anything we can do on the internet is a "cloud" resource, no?

But, I have been running phprojekt for some time (and I am only using the older version, because I hacked a bunch of the code to personalize it and don't want to start over).  But, like OwnCloud, it's got file sharing, calendar, contacts, etc. plus full project management.  Plus (for me) my customized billing package, improved contact editing, etc.

Then there is eyeOS, which provides an online desktop with familiar apps.  Again, I implemented an earlier version and never found much use for it except to hand off files to clients.  One of the problems if you don't use a system very often you are constantly having to relearn it.  (As in, "where is it, what's my password," etc.)

The one thing I have noticed is that most of these projects are serious bloatware and overkill without solving the problem:  local apps do the job better.  I can't say that in particular about OpenStack -- because (a) I don't understand it's mission and (b) it seems to be aimed at resource sharing, which is an IT mission well beyond my personal needs.  But, OTOH hand, it seems to also be aimed at creating cloud instances of virtual machines, which it seems to me is ok short term but really the wrong direction, because duplicating our local machines in the cloud is probably the wrong paradigm.