From their homepage: > Cloud9 combines a powerful online code editor with a full Ubuntu workspace in the cloud This is the first thing I see on loading their website. Is this their main selling point? Why does my editor need to be "in the cloud"? It works perfectly fine on my local machine, and I could even automate syncing if I wanted. Also, I could just ssh into my server and start an editor there. > Build WordPres…
It does not HAVE to be. But it is another option and great one at certain situations. Such as showing someone how to start programming, working on small project without having to deal with setup time etc.
I really like it actually. It's not meant to be replacement of local machine IDEs.