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The technology for distributed computing is available. However, it is argued that decentralized systems will always require more careful design, planning, and management than their centralized counterparts. The rationale for and against decentralization is given, and a technical approach to decentralized systems is sketched. This approach contrasts with the popular concept of a distributed integrated database which transparently provides remote IO against single system image. Rather, it proposes that functions be distributed as `servers' which abstract data as high-level operations on objects and communicate with `requestors' via a standard message protocol. This requestor-server approach has the advantages of modularity and performance.