perkeep/website/content/index.html

<h1 class='bustTitleRegexp'>What is Camlistore?</h1>

<p>Camlistore is:</p>
<ul>
  <li>a way to store, sync, share, model and back up content</li>
  <li>a <a href="/docs/status">work in progress</a></li>
  <li>Open Source (Apache licensed)</li>
  <li>an acronym for <i>"Content-Addressable Multi-Layer Indexed Storage"</i>, hinting that Camlistore is about:
      <ul>
        <li>content-addressable storage</li>
        <li>separate interoperable parts (<a href="/docs/arch">storage</a>, <a href="/docs/terms#graphsync">sync</a>, <a href="/docs/sharing">sharing</a>,
        <a href="/docs/schema">modeling</a>), with well-defined protocols and roles</li>
      </ul></li>
  <li>your "home directory for the web"</li>
  <li>pro-JSON (yet aggressively format agnostic)</li>
  <li>pro-OpenPGP (for <a href="/docs/json-signing">signing claims</a>)</li>
  <li>pro-paranoia and privacy</li>
  <li><a href="/docs/uses">ambitious</a>, but ...</li>
  <li>simple!</li>
  <li>programming language-agnostic (parts and different implementations in <a href="http://golang.org/">Go</a>, Python, Java, Perl, Bash, ... the language doesn't matter.)  What matters is well-defined, simple HTTP interfaces.</li>
  <li>neither "Cloud" nor "Local".  happily both.</li>
  <li>a "20% project" from a few Google employees, but not Google-centric nor endorsed by Google (other than them letting us open source our side project)</li>
  <li>ready for developers (at least those without strong <a href="http://bikeshed.org/">color preferences</a>)</li>
</ul>

<p>but, is...</p>
<ul>
  <li style="margin-top: 1em">not yet ready for users</li>
  <li>not a typical peer-to-peer system or DHT</li>
  <li>not (yet?) a "MySQL alternative"</li>
  <li>not necessarily a product in itself (e.g., not Drupal)</li>
  <li>not necessarily a replacement for S3-like storage</li>
</ul>