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Firefox Send: Free encrypted file transfer service

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Re: Firefox Send: Free encrypted file transfer service

#91
post #27
post #12

I can't believe that there isn't a simple service to transfer data between my cellphone and my computer without going through the internet. iTunes is terribly bloated, MTP is a mess, and Bluetooth is slow and frustrating. Back in my hacker day I used to have an SSH server open on my cellphone and use it to transfer files back and forth with my computer. Why isn't there a mainstream service like that?

Tangentially related - I've always thought it's dumb that I can't just plug my iPhone in to any PC and have it show up as a removable storage device. I'm sure people who know more than me will give me a list of great reasons why it's not straightforward to implement... But it doesn't change the fact that I have this incredible device (iPhone X) with 256gb of blindingly fast NAND flash storage, of which I am only util…

I regularly do this to offload pictures and movies. I have even used my iPhone as a large USB drive.

But, they don’t let you access to full file system for some reason.

Re: Firefox Send: Free encrypted file transfer service

#92
post #12

I can't believe that there isn't a simple service to transfer data between my cellphone and my computer without going through the internet. iTunes is terribly bloated, MTP is a mess, and Bluetooth is slow and frustrating. Back in my hacker day I used to have an SSH server open on my cellphone and use it to transfer files back and forth with my computer. Why isn't there a mainstream service like that?

termux + woof

woof -i -p

termux: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.termux&hl=....

woof: http://www.home.unix-ag.org/simon/woof.html

Edit:

1. Allows directory upload/download (tar/gzip/bzip2 compressed)

2. Local file server (doesn't go over the internet)

3. Allows upload form (-U option)

4. Allows file to be served number of times (-c option)

Re: Firefox Send: Free encrypted file transfer service

#93
post #27
post #12

I can't believe that there isn't a simple service to transfer data between my cellphone and my computer without going through the internet. iTunes is terribly bloated, MTP is a mess, and Bluetooth is slow and frustrating. Back in my hacker day I used to have an SSH server open on my cellphone and use it to transfer files back and forth with my computer. Why isn't there a mainstream service like that?

Tangentially related - I've always thought it's dumb that I can't just plug my iPhone in to any PC and have it show up as a removable storage device. I'm sure people who know more than me will give me a list of great reasons why it's not straightforward to implement... But it doesn't change the fact that I have this incredible device (iPhone X) with 256gb of blindingly fast NAND flash storage, of which I am only util…

Unrestricted access would probably mean that someone could take your phone and access your data.

Instead, there are these 3 ways to share files between your phone and other machines: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201301

Re: Firefox Send: Free encrypted file transfer service

#95
post #12

I can't believe that there isn't a simple service to transfer data between my cellphone and my computer without going through the internet. iTunes is terribly bloated, MTP is a mess, and Bluetooth is slow and frustrating. Back in my hacker day I used to have an SSH server open on my cellphone and use it to transfer files back and forth with my computer. Why isn't there a mainstream service like that?

You might be interested in KDE Connect, which provides (among other things) essentially a thin wrapper around SSHFS. It's the most convenient method of computerphone transfer I've found.

Re: Firefox Send: Free encrypted file transfer service

#96
post #71
post #12

I can't believe that there isn't a simple service to transfer data between my cellphone and my computer without going through the internet. iTunes is terribly bloated, MTP is a mess, and Bluetooth is slow and frustrating. Back in my hacker day I used to have an SSH server open on my cellphone and use it to transfer files back and forth with my computer. Why isn't there a mainstream service like that?

You didn't say whether you are on iOS or Android, but if you are on iOS airdrop works very well.

It does - just so long as you and anyone else you might want to share with are paid up into the Apple walled garden.

I do have an iPhone and I love AirDrop for sharing photos with the few friends who also have an iPhone but it's not even an option for me with a Linux laptop.

Re: Firefox Send: Free encrypted file transfer service

#97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm sure people who know more than me will give me a list of great reasons why it's not straightforward to implement... Nah, Android phones have done this forever, it's not technical difficulties stopping it from working. It's The Apple Way . They don't want you using your phone that way, or something.

Argh! I just went through this with a friend's iPhone when he asked spur of the moment to have a video on his iPhone displayed on some monitors for a presentation. The monitors are driven by a Win10 computer. My first thought was to transfer the file from the iPhone with Bluetooth to the computer, but apparently an iPhone can't be paired in that manner. So lame. The video was too big to email, so I used send.firefox.…

Not having a cable is hardly the same issue, iPhones let you easily share images and videos but not all files.

Re: Firefox Send: Free encrypted file transfer service

#98

It doesn't exactly meet the needs of "sending files to a non-technical person", but Magic Wormhole [0] has been truly great for flipping files around between me and anyone who is capable of being trusted to run `pip install --user pipe && pipe install magic-wormhole`. This is by no means everyone, but it's been very useful quite often. [0] https://magic-wormhole.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ has

I remember elementaryOS had a GUI for this in its app store. Never got around to try it, Linux is not well known in the consumer world, let alone Elementary

Re: Firefox Send: Free encrypted file transfer service

#99
post #23

I must say I am disapointed. I thought this would be some cool realtime system to send from browser to browser, using WebRTC or something. Something that doesn't involve them paying for file servers, by the way. I believed in Mozilla ! But no, here we are and I just don't see the difference between this and Mega. EDIT: except for the auto-deletion trick that addresses the piracy problem. But still...

https://file.pizza/

Re: Firefox Send: Free encrypted file transfer service

#100
Ah man, I literally came up with (and prototyped) this exact thing in 2013. Minus the end to end encryption. I dropped it mostly because I wasn't sure how to prevent illegal use and didn't want to be liable.

Edit: mine was actually (partially) better because it assigned a short PIN instead of a full link, which meant you could just look at it and remember it for typing-in, instead of requiring a separate channel to "send" the link.

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