Thanks for the details. While I do understand how most computers and OS works, I am not a developer - I do not know the technology behind how the 3rd party cloud systems are integrated into Apple eco system. You say Google adopted "FileProvider" and it should behave similar to iCloud (from the finder, integration perspective). I do see that - I use google drive also - It behaves as though an USB drive is mounted. But I don't see a loss of control - may be google got around it by providing "mirroring vs Streaming" options and providing a means to keep select files in "sync" mode by calling it available offline. But it works.
I can see why Apple chose not to do this, as Steve Jobs would like to say - the eco-system is designed for liberal arts folks to use it - he was not trying to put down liberal arts people - he was making a point, people don't need to understand the nuances - just use it, Apple will manage it behind the scene and make it work. Apple has taken this approach - keep the files at a low resolution or in some cases - just fie names - and down load it when it is accessed - it will look as if everything is still there - but in reality its in cloud space.
only problem with this approach is that - it will fill up the disk to certain level - only when it fills up to a level it will affect the usage (disk used for paging for example). When the disk is full, and I want to create a huge file, I may get error message - not enough disk space - I had this experience, when I was trying to bring a big file into iMovie - eventually it resolved it - but getting that message is sufficient for me to find alternative approaches.
Again thanks for the education on engines behind some of these technologies.
