0:21:04 So another one is legal frameworks.
0:21:07 So we are working with, like, we're
building those systems, maybe just
0:21:11 for us, maybe for others, but, like
we're not building this in a vacuum.
0:21:15 Sure, I can build some software
that might just run like locally
0:21:19 on my, phone or on my computer.
0:21:22 Or like on like a little
shared server in my home.
0:21:25 But in that regard, no one cares.
0:21:28 But like once I put it a little bit more
out there for the world to see and to use,
0:21:33 or possibly that it's like still meant
to be used for a smaller group, but it's
0:21:37 still accessible for others, possibly.
0:21:40 So you need to think
about the implications.
0:21:42 You need to possibly lock it down.
0:21:43 You need to constrain it,
you need to set expectations.
0:21:47 And one like way of setting expectations
or being constrained is through like
0:21:53 our legal system, whatever legislation
we're falling into, like Germany, where
0:21:58 we're doing this conference in like.
0:22:00 Very particular set of legal constraints,
also like European constraints, et cetera.
0:22:06 But we're not building this in a vacuum.
0:22:08 We need to like fit into the
constraints, realities of the real world.
0:22:13 One big question is like,
where does data live?
0:22:16 But also of like, other questions?
0:22:18 Well, like what sort of rights
do I as a user of software have?
0:22:22 Like, GDPR is certainly something
that really changed, the ecosystem
0:22:27 quite a bit for better or for worse?
0:22:30 I think actually one, funny aspect
of GDPR, like maybe one intended or
0:22:35 unintended consequence that I'm quite
excited about is that GDPR has had a
0:22:40 massive impact on data compatibility.
0:22:43 Where you can now go to like
pretty much every service and
0:22:47 through the right to be forgotten.
0:22:49 Like you can still export your data,
but that exported data now actually
0:22:53 gives you all the data for that service.
0:22:56 So you can now like go to LinkedIn.
0:22:57 It's like, hey, like give me all my
data or like, go to x.com, give me all
0:23:02 my data, and like now you can export
that and like build tools with it.
0:23:08 So I think that's like one interesting
ways of like how a legal framework
0:23:12 has unlocked data compatibility,
even though that like, and not in
0:23:17 a very rigorous way, but at least
something better than nothing.
0:23:20 And so that just like
as one anecdote of like.
0:23:23 How something has changed and
unlocked new opportunities.
0:23:27 And I think there will
be a lot more like that.
0:23:30 Like good developments, bad developments.
0:23:33 Another real world analogy might be
if you're going to Linear and you
0:23:37 create a team, you need to set like,
Hey, where should the data be stored?
0:23:41 Do you want to have it stored in the US?
0:23:42 You don't wanna have it stored in EU.
0:23:44 Like, that's another way
to like really model that.
0:23:47 And I think that's just like,
scratching the surface of how
0:23:51 we need to bake those realities
into the software we're building.
0:23:55 And, I think there, this is an area that
that's really worthwhile thinking through
0:24:01 and be hopefully inspired by, new ideas.
0:24:06 Yeah.
0:24:06 I'm weirdly interested in the legal
frameworks area and I hope we get
0:24:09 some good submissions on that.
0:24:11 I think it is natural for people
in the tech world to dismiss or
0:24:15 downplay that aspect of things.
0:24:17 Especially maybe if you come
from the Silicon Valley, American
0:24:21 Maverick laws just get in my way.
0:24:23 I'm gonna ignore them perspective.
0:24:25 but yeah, we're, we're
both here in Europe.
0:24:27 I, two, two things that come to
mind for me on that, that are
0:24:30 interesting and of this moment.
0:24:32 One is, yeah, you mentioned GDPR
and much maligned in some ways.
0:24:37 You know, the cookie banner thing
is an unfortunate consequence of
0:24:42 how that all played out, but it also
has provided real front guidelines
0:24:46 for handling of person identifying
information that I think genuinely has
0:24:51 made the internet a safer place, right?
0:24:54 It's full of threat and attacks
and that's only getting worse
0:24:58 now that, that stuff can all be
superpowered with language models.
0:25:01 But, you know, when I was working
on an AI powered browser called Dia
0:25:05 last year, it was actually genuinely
helpful to us to basically go and ask
0:25:10 the question, what is GDPR recommended?
0:25:12 And it basically comes down to, okay,
we wanna be able to train on user data
0:25:17 that's incredibly valuable to our users
in the same way that, you know, Google's
0:25:21 magic results and auto complete works
so well because they're training it on
0:25:25 what other people are searching for.
0:25:26 And that's how it can seem
to kind of read your mind.
0:25:28 That's the same thing is true
with, Cursor and the auto complete.
0:25:31 So there's huge value in training on user
data, even though there's, you know, but,
0:25:35 but there's obviously some, things you
need to be really cautious about there.
0:25:38 And GDPR gives actually
really good guidance.
0:25:41 It basically says if you strip
all information that can tie
0:25:45 it back to a particular user.
0:25:46 Certainly anything personally
identifiable, like a name or an email,
0:25:49 but also you're decoupling it from the
user ID at the moment of collection
0:25:53 and anonymizing there and you throw it
away within 30 days, you're all good.
0:25:57 That's a very simple framework and
actually we could do a lot with that.
0:26:00 We could really, go pretty
far with training our own,
0:26:04 models with data in that frame.
0:26:06 And it was actually nice to
have that, not just from a legal
0:26:08 perspective, but from just a best
practices guidance perspective.
0:26:12 so GDPR has been a mixed bag
in some ways, but has also I
0:26:16 think provided genuine value.
0:26:18 The other thing I would throw
out that is also probably kind of
0:26:20 from the Europe perspective that's
top of mind now is sovereignty.
0:26:24 Basically data sovereignty
and software sovereignty.
0:26:27 And I think a lot of the European Union
as a whole, but also individual countries
0:26:31 are thinking about how to decouple
themselves a little bit from US providers.
0:26:35 And I think we can put aside, or we
don't wanna make a political conference
0:26:39 or be too tied to whatever current event
happens to be in the news at the moment.
0:26:43 But I think in general, this is a
good perspective for nations to have
0:26:47 and it is just a scaled up version
of local-first data ownership.
0:26:51 It is just a version of the same reason
I say it's good for me to have control
0:26:55 over my data and have the ability to
make choices about it, not only in
0:26:59 the short term, but in the long term.
0:27:00 Where do I back it up?
0:27:01 Can I delete it, can I
duplicate it, et cetera.
0:27:04 There's a version of that for nations.
0:27:06 And I think that's a little bit what,
Europe is grappling with right now.
0:27:09 And I think totally separate from
anything happened in the current moment.
0:27:13 That's a good thing to think about.
0:27:15 That's a long-term thing that helps
create greater agency and autonomy
0:27:19 and security for your nation,
just as it does for an individual.
0:27:23 And I think there's also really like a
window of opportunity, around that, where
0:27:27 like, whether, what do you wanna call,
like, big players like Monopoly or not?
0:27:32 that aside, I think there are now real
cases of precedent where I think certain
0:27:37 German states, for example, have made
the switch away from Microsoft to like
0:27:42 some, open source software, et cetera.
0:27:44 And like, I think that sets a, like
me as someone who has like, very good
0:27:50 feelings towards open source and wants
to see open source software succeed,
0:27:54 I think there's new momentum here.
0:27:56 And I think local-first can really
also through that perspective,
0:27:59 play a more mainstream role.
0:28:02 Since like you don't just, yes, you
can have like your open source react
0:28:05 components, but that does make like
fully functional software where you
0:28:09 can replace other software with it.
0:28:10 Yeah.
0:28:10 Like you need to think about data
and if you're making that painful
0:28:14 switch from one software stack, that
might even like include all the way
0:28:18 to the operating system, you probably
like experience a lot of pain there.
0:28:23 And ideally, you now choose a
foundation that gives you more
0:28:27 optionality in the future when you
might want to do another switch.
0:28:31 And this is where things like,
data compatibility, et cetera,
0:28:35 all like play into this.
0:28:37 And where ideally, like legal frameworks
set a good foundation and like encourage
0:28:43 things like data compatibility, et cetera,
but in a thoughtful way where it does
0:28:49 not, introduce so much overhead and like
bureaucracy that it grinds down like the
0:28:55 velocity of like hurricane ship software.
0:28:57 And I think this is like
the best of all worlds that
0:29:00 local-first wants to empower that.
0:29:03 Where if you build with like
those local-first data layers.
0:29:06 The data layer takes care of that for
you, and you can focus on the software.
0:29:11 So I think this is all like a very rich
area, to talk about and I think that
0:29:15 what's makes it really interesting is
to hear it through the lens of like one
0:29:20 particular story, whether it is like a
company having made that switch, whether
0:29:26 you've built software and like you've
made your software more compatible and
0:29:30 interoperable in some way, or, yeah,
there's like all of those stories that
0:29:36 I've heard over the years and I think
those deserve a broader, audience.
0:29:40 And so if you have something to share
in that regard, please definitely take
0:29:44 the step and like, submit it to the CFP.
0:29:46 That's a great point.
0:29:47 It almost makes me wanna make data
portability or something to that regard.
0:29:52 a top level topic.
0:29:53 But I think this comes back to
the principle in local-first,
0:29:56 which we call the Long Now.
0:29:57 Which is, yeah, once you've
been around for a while, you
0:30:00 can see the gray in my beard.
0:30:01 I've been working with computers
for many decades now, and I've
0:30:05 seen many products come and go.
0:30:06 Software platforms come and go.
0:30:08 But being able to preserve that
data for a variety of reasons.
0:30:11 'cause it's important for your company.
0:30:13 'cause it's important for you personally.
0:30:14 There's emotional meaning and saving your
old family photos or the, master thesis
0:30:18 he wrote in university or whatever.
0:30:20 And then of course it is natural
that especially the startup industry,
0:30:24 which skews young and people are
building products and moving fast
0:30:26 and thinking about tomorrow and next
quarter and not 10 years from now.
0:30:30 That's, that's fine.
0:30:31 and well and good, but
maybe that is a role.
0:30:34 Governments can play a little bit, but
it's also a role that, yeah, maybe our
0:30:37 community can play, which is encourage
people to think a little bit about that
0:30:41 long term, both as users, what's going to
make my data be a little safer, give me
0:30:46 that long term optionality, as you said.
0:30:48 but also product makers to think
in terms of like, okay, may maybe
0:30:52 my product won't be hero, will have
changed a lot in five or 10 years.
0:30:55 Am I empowering my users, to take
their data and go to where they need
0:30:59 to go when the time comes for that?
0:31:01 And I think it's just like a wonderful way
to think about the world a bit more, like
0:31:05 positive sum, where I think we've, like
in some areas of software, we've already
0:31:10 figured us out, like in a pretty good
way when we have like languages and like
0:31:14 ideally like typed languages, et cetera.
0:31:16 Like you have an API that you
can compatible with and then
0:31:19 you can like reuse modules.
0:31:21 We even got that all the
way to like UI, et cetera.
0:31:25 But for data, this is where
we're struggling still the most.
0:31:27 And I think this is like one of the
core themes around local-first where
0:31:32 there has been tremendous progress
to, to make, progress in that regard.
0:31:36 And in that theme of like user
agency, et cetera, personal software,
0:31:40 I think this will play an even
bigger role, where we are gonna
0:31:44 have like more software than ever.
0:31:46 Whether it's like we've built this
ourselves, whether it's agents
0:31:48 have built it, and then those
things can, can talk to each other.
0:31:53 But I think it's also like changing
in an interesting way where the
0:31:56 contract between that does not have
to be like absolutely perfect anymore.
0:32:01 But like now AI can also like, shoulder
a bit of that burden of like talking
0:32:07 to each other, where now we can like
get away with having fuzzy software.
0:32:11 Where it has like CSV over here and
like a JSON API over there, and the
0:32:16 agent can like very easily either ad
hoc one-off, like convert something or
0:32:21 create a script that talks to each other.
0:32:23 So I think we're like, we're getting
closer and closer having like some
0:32:28 bridges and ideally over time we'll
get to like really having very reliable
0:32:33 bridges that just, in our minds when
we hear a story like over there and
0:32:38 like we write it down over there,
like we are a bridge and just works.
0:32:42 And ideally software can
be like that in the future.
0:32:45 I like that a lot and I like that
point that software is becoming
0:32:49 cheaper to make, so therefore it will
be more ephemeral, more throwaway.
0:32:53 You'll be more likely to make
something that's purpose-built for
0:32:56 a, a shorter period of time, whether
it's an internal tool at a company
0:32:59 or a personal app or something.
0:33:01 Something like that.
0:33:02 And in the past we've really relied,
or to date you could say we've
0:33:05 really relied on, my Gmail is still
readable 20 years ago because Gmail
0:33:10 still exists and is well maintained.
0:33:12 but instead, maybe if we have a system
that is more based on, well, I can
0:33:16 use an email tool that's a little bit
bespoke and gets stops being relevant
0:33:21 or stops being maintained two years
from now, and it's no big deal because
0:33:24 getting my email out or whatever data
came from that tool and into the next
0:33:28 thing that I'm going to use is pretty
straightforward to do from through some
0:33:32 combination of export data portability.
0:33:34 But also, as you said, that importing
and ingesting data and making data
0:33:38 coherent with the help of AI is easier.
0:33:41 So I like that idea of a lot.
0:33:43 This, the software is kind of ephemeral
and fits the need you have in the exact
0:33:47 moment, and then you can move on from it.
0:33:49 The data is something that
has a longer lifespan.
0:33:52 It can move with you
from, product to product.
0:33:56 Exactly.
0:33:57 Great.
0:33:57 So this was local-first maturity,
and we've already teased a little
0:34:01 bit of like some adjacent topics,
but the, the other, big pillars here,
0:34:05 as Elene put it, is like the new
territories and the larger ecosystem.
0:34:10 So maybe if we spend a bit of time on
the new territories where we have like,
0:34:14 designing for agency, then around like
AI, local and open weight models, and