FluidDB is an online cloud data store developed by the company FluidInfo, based on an attribute-value centric data model. FluidDB is written in Python and characterized by a publicly writeable schema-less database that provides a query language, a fine-grained permissions model and promotes data sharing, both publicly and in groups. Few data stores are available with the intent to provide public write-access, except in narrow contexts.

Two examples of shareable data stores operating in specific contexts are del.icio.us (shareable bookmarks) and Twitter (micro-blogging service). FluidDB offers a generalized shareable data store, where potentially any piece or type of information can be shared with anybody else, if desired, striving for a balance between individual, group and communal data ownership. Author and blogger Robert Scoble described FluidDB as a "database that acts like a wiki", a phrase adapted from an interview with original creator Terry Jones.

FluidDB emphasizes three aspects that make it unique among existing public data stores: The data model aims to be as flexible as possible, permitting a wide range of information to be stored in FluidDB. The fundamental difference between attribute value stores (along the lines of EAV schemas) and traditional RDBMS is the lack of a highly-defined top-down structure. The essence of FluidDB is comprised of arbitrary objects, which can be considered points in a data space to which tags may be attached.

Objects have no owners, similar to concepts in the "real" world. Tags are initially controlled by the user/application who creates them and can be attached to objects, in a fashion reminiscent of how humans use their minds to create and associate information with physical objects or concepts. One of the underlying motivations of FluidDB is to make working with information more natural.

Similar to 0 things you like: