Local-first software: You own your data, in spite of the cloud

I've been working on this concept since 2002 when I released my first web app.

I'm just about to release the latest version of that app and it offers a local first option by letting the user store their data on a CouchDB installed on their desktop pc. It runs entirely offline.

It also provides an option for the user to sync their data to our "Cloud" based CouchDB so the app can be used on any web connected device.

For me, being able to accomplish that after all these years is huge, and I'm kind of stunned at how little attention this approach has gotten by developers.

My guess is that it will now take a catastrophic failure of the web to call attention to it.