You described exactly what the people at http://www.freedomboxfoundation.org/ are trying to do.
It's still in an early state of development but you may join the mailinglist or read the wiki ( http://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox ) if you are interested in this topic.
Re:Ubuntu for Android
by alexchamberlain on Wednesday February 22, 2012 @03:50AM
(#3620034)
This is a great hardware startup. Sell rack boxes that can be installed by an electrician next to the power in/telephone in and get rid of those under featured consumer routers.
Hmmmmmm.... I'll sell you one for £500 a year, replaced regularly and managed?
I was thinking more of a Raspberry Pi, though obviously combining this device with the router does make sense.
Re:Ubuntu for Android
by alexchamberlain on Wednesday February 22, 2012 @05:31AM
(#3620292)
Seriously? Why not combine into the NAS?
The future I would like best is a device on the end of my home internet connection.
I could authenticate myself to other online services against it.
It could be a node in a social network (much like diaspora) where I can control all my own data.
It could have access to a NAS at home, allowing me to stream my favourite music and movies to wherever I happen to be.
In the future, with resilient enough networks, the datacenter will be distributed.