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Google, Microsoft, Dell and Amazon now offer massive computing power and software as a service over the internet, but speaking to the The Guardian, open-source

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advocate Stallman argued that users should be wary of handing their data over to third parties, rather than keeping it stored locally.

"One reason you should not use web applications to do your computing is that you lose control," he tells the newspaper. "It's just as bad as using a proprietary program... If you use a proprietary program or somebody else's web server, you're defenceless. You're putty in the hands of whoever developed that software."

Stallman's comments echo those of Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison, who unleashed a tirade on cloud computing at his company's analyst day.

"The interesting thing about cloud computing is that we've redefined cloud computing to include everything that we already do," he said. "Maybe I'm an idiot, but I have no idea what anyone is talking about. What is it? It's complete gibberish. It's insane. When is this idiocy going to stop?"