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Dropbox silently installed new file manager app on users’ systems

arstechnica.com

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Re: Dropbox silently installed new file manager app on users’ systems

#181

Post by jbob2000 »

technofiend wrote: post #108
navigatesol wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Please go back to being a folder that syncs A simple, effective utility can't support a multi-billion valuation. Where else will the VC Ponzi dollars go?

>A simple, effective utility can't support a multi-billion valuation. This is the real issue: everyone wants to be a unicorn and no one wants to be a utility.

Which is funny because, if you ask any investor who's been around a few decades, they'll say utilities are the best investment because it's the last thing any person would cut from their budget. (ie. I'd cut my cable subscription before I'd cut my water or power)

Re: Dropbox silently installed new file manager app on users’ systems

#183

Post by jasonsync »

mothsonasloth wrote: post #6

After Dropbox introduced the 3 machine limit to free tier accounts back in March. I decided to migrate to Nextcloud. The migration was easy: 1. Setup a directory on my VPS for storing files 2. Install Nextcloud 3. Configure security 4. Install clients on (Mac/ Windows and Androd phone) 5. Starting adding files

NextCloud is great if you don't mind managing your own VPS. I run a NextCloud instance for some personal projects.

That said, if you're looking for a Dropbox alternative that functions much like Dropbox (but with better privacy and better pricing), feel free to try Sync.com (full disclosure, I work at Sync).

Choice is good!

Re: Dropbox silently installed new file manager app on users’ systems

#184

Post by jbverschoor »

speeder wrote: post #54
bhouston wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SoundBlaster sold sound cards as well, but then sound cards got integrated into the motherboards and now only <0.01% of people buy sound cards.

What killed SBlaster was not motherboards having sound cards. It was movie studios convincing microsoft to ban from Windows the best featuresof SBlaster cards (those features are STILL banned by the way) because they were afraid of people using them to pirate movies. It is a reaaaaally long story, but to make it short: MS changed radically how windows drivers worked, and what a driver could do, during the transition…

Wow you are messing up timelines and your projecting your experience/reason/hobbies on the market.

DVD drives weren’t even a thing when people stopped buying soundcards. Yeah a small selection wanted 3d sound for a gaming edge, and that was available on low cost cards pretty soon.

Before that they a place, but all features were available through software. The mixer, sampler, channels.

Re: Dropbox silently installed new file manager app on users’ systems

#185

Post by markfchapman »

chiefalchemist wrote: post #15
gpvos wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It didn't do anything bad to me while I used it. I finally got round to replacing it with Nextcloud though, so now I only use Dropbox very occasionally, and via the web.

I saw Nextcloud ( https://nextcloud.com/ ) mentioned above but I'm not seeing anything that looks like a personal (or SMB) solution. Where should I be looking? What product/page? tia

https://nextcloud.com/install/#instructions-server

https://nextcloud.com/install/#install-clients

I've installed it for personal use before but now use Hetzner:

https://www.hetzner.com/storage/nextcloud

Re: Dropbox silently installed new file manager app on users’ systems

#187

Post by ac29 »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #172
gwbas1c wrote: post #59

I've worked for a major Dropbox competitor for almost a decade. Shenanigans like this don't surprise me. This happens because product managers, developers, designers, ect, like to get creative. They think that they need to invent something new; AND, we (in the industry) see how a certain group of users is constantly confused by the files and folders concept. Usually, cooler heads prevail and remind everyone why our c…

> This happens because product managers, developers, designers, ect, like to get creative. They think that they need to invent something new Capitalism is supposed to be about efficient allocation of resources. Cutting down the fat. Taking away materiel and capital from people who squander it and giving it to people who can put it to good work. How come that those product managers, developers, designers, etc. all hav…

Modern capitalism is arguably more about growth than efficiency - the latter is often sacrificed in favor of the former.

Re: Dropbox silently installed new file manager app on users’ systems

#188

Post by stirfrykitty »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #152
bhouston wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google File Stream ( https://support.google.com/drive/answer/7329379?hl=en ) is the bomb - many TBs of files in it, can not even count how many and it is fast and adaptive. If you haven't tried it, you do not know what you are missing.

What's up with them? They now have three applications to do file syncing? Google Drive, Backup & Sync, and Drive File Stream? I've kept using Dropbox for all these years because they never confused people like this. There was a single app that gave you a folder that synced.

Personally, I think rsync.net is the best if you're in IT, particularly if you're a *nix user. Nothing better yet unless you wanted to roll your own. And the fact they use ZFS makes it great. You can choose where your data resides and it's fairly inexpensive all things considered. And to the best of my knowledge, I don't recall them being involved in anything overtly political. I like tech companies doing what they do best. Tech.

Re: Dropbox silently installed new file manager app on users’ systems

#189

Post by greenleafjacob »

wukerplank wrote: post #63
criddell wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Steve Jobs may have been right when he said something to the effect of Dropbox isn't a product, it's a feature . If all you want is a folder that syncs, then don't we get that from every commercial operating system?

If it's part of the OS, it's probably not cross-platform... I still use Dropbox because it runs everywhere: NAS, Windows, Mac and my phone. (At work we use Google Drive, it it just sucks. File Stream is super buggy and the web UI lacks a lot of productivity features.)

Unfortunately Dropbox recently dropped support for certain Linux file systems like XFS, BTRFS, etc.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17732912

Re: Dropbox silently installed new file manager app on users’ systems

#190

Post by josteink »

ChrisRR wrote: post #87
bhouston wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "But," you may ask, "so much more you could do! What about task management, calendaring, customized dashboards, virtual white boarding. More than just folders and files!" > > No, shut up. People don't use that crap. They just want a folder. A folder that syncs. This argument is a good one but it only covers the rise of Dropbox. We are now in a different era. Dropbox's functionality is now table stakes and not somet…

We're in a different era, but the issue is still the same. Lots of competitors have popped up in file syncing, but they all want to link in with additional services and other crap that people don't want. There's still a lot of value to be had in providing a folder that syncs quickly and effortlessly.

> There's still a lot of value to be had in providing a folder that syncs quickly and effortlessly.

I gave up on Dropbox for many of the reasons mentioned in this thread (and lacking ZFS on Linux being the final straw).

Nextcloud fills this niche for me now. And it offers practically unlimited storage, is free and even open-source.

I’m not coming back, Dropbox.

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