An interesting topic about the evolution of software architecture: over the years, too many applications have been built around a cloud-dependent model, which has overshadowed the local-first approach. This is especially evident in the gaming industry—originally, experiences could be lighter and more independent, but they are gradually being dominated by cloudification and service-oriented thinking, which is quite a pity.

A hypothesis worth pondering: if such a mechanism had existed as early as 2000— for example, if sales tax on electronic devices could automatically flow to open-source software developers based on contribution proportion—the entire evolution path of the software ecosystem might have been completely different. In that case, the sustainability issues of open-source projects might have been solved long ago, and developers would be motivated to refine truly valuable, user-friendly, local-first solutions. Instead of now, where cloud centralization has become a more attractive option for capital.

This reflects a deeper issue: when economic incentives are misaligned with technological principles, even more elegant technical solutions tend to be marginalized. The emergence of Web3, to some extent, is an attempt to use new economic models to readjust this incentive structure.