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digitalderbs writes:
"A perennial problem facing computer users is how to keep documents, pictures, music and other personal files synchronized between computers. Robust uni-directional solutions, like rsync, and bi-directional solutions, like unison, have existed for a long time. However, these tools require some degree of manual intervention on a periodic basis. Simplified tools like Dropbox and bittorrent sync have emerged as popular, useful and automated alternatives, but these rely on closed-source software, which could be subject to backdooring. Open source solutions, like OwnCloud, are gaining traction, but are these open source platform robust and easy enough to maintain for routine and daily use? Moreover, distributed and encrypted file systems, like Ceph, are increasingly easy to use, but many of these do not work between Linux and OS X or Windows operating systems. What are your experiences and thoughts?"
(Score: 2, Informative) by GeminiDomino on Monday March 24 2014, @09:50PM
I've got a Dropbox for things like bookmarks, patches, and the like that I'll probably want to shuttle from desktop to laptop to office, and the occasional shared file. For the actual things I want to share and keep reasonably safe (data for work, e.g.), I use SpiderOak instead. A bit less simple, much more secure, and a lot more flexible (you tell it what folders you want to sync, rather than it telling you that everything you sync needs to be under one folder).
I started playing with OwnCloud, but then disaster struck and the test machine I was using went casters-up, so never got very far with that.
"We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of our culture"
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Nerdfest on Monday March 24 2014, @10:53PM
SpiderOak is fantastic, and I wish they'd get more press, as they seem to do security right.
That said, using encfs with a DropBox subdirectory works quite nicely too for those with a little skill. Perhaps that's the problem SpiderOak has run into. Those that appreciate how good they are can do the same sort of approach themselves. An unfortunate situation to be in. Maybe they should be creating a simplified user interface and pushing it at those people reading of the latest NSA escapades that don't have the skill to solve their problems themselves.
(Score: 1) by GeminiDomino on Tuesday March 25 2014, @02:39PM
Yeah, you can use EncFS or just store truecrypt volumes in a Dropbox, but SpiderOak does better at that and more. You can have disparate directory trees in the same backup set, they've introduced the "Hive" (which I turn off, but which is basically the dropbox model) to overcome some of the extra complexity it had compared to DropBox, and they've got the file "monitor" which can make sure files are automatically synced (OwnCloud's clients weren't quite up to snuff back when I was playing with it, I don't know where they're at now).
The only reason I even have a DropBox account anymore is because SO doesn't do Android (part of SOs reduced popularity, IMO). They also don't market themselves as indiscriminately or aggressively as Dropbox, like the "free space for referrals" social-networky stuff.
"We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of our culture"
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Tuesday March 25 2014, @04:46PM
SpiderOak has an Android client.
(Score: 1) by GeminiDomino on Wednesday March 26 2014, @08:45AM
Does it now? Sweet!
That definitely deserves a +1 Informative, so please accept it in spirit.
"We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of our culture"