Live data from Hacker News

AeroFS - File Sync Without Servers

aerofs.com

101–110 of 123 posts

Re: AeroFS - File Sync Without Servers

#101
Not sure I understand how sync works when the same file is being edited from multiple places simultaneously. Who wins? Any pointer appreciated.

Totally unrelated: how do you pronounce aerofs? If I try to say it in French it either comes out as "erofesse" (erotic buttock) or "aerofesse" (flying buttock). That will definitely win points with French-speakers :-)

Re: AeroFS - File Sync Without Servers

#102
post #10

I'm using this for about 6 months now. It works exactly like Dropbox, but it doesn't store any data on a central server, so I can use it even for my more sensitive files like my ssh private key. I have a server at home on which AeroFS is running, so my data generally is available. And if my internet at home is down, usually there's another machine where it's running. As it's syncing and keeping the local copy, the mo…

For the love of god, never ever let your private keys leave the devices they were generated on. That defeats more or less one of the key features with key-based authentication, you cannot easily remove access to a lost key.

Re: AeroFS - File Sync Without Servers

#103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey Bryan, Your gripes haven't fallen on deaf ears :) The chatty protocol feedback we've heard a few times, and we're doing our best to optimize it. The Lion issues we'll investigate ASAP. As for #3, That's actually a highly requested feature (see http://ae.ro/iUi6OZ ), so it's pretty high on our to do list #4. We've thought about this for a while, not really sure yet how we will implement it though. #5. Working on t…

Regarding #3 (and probably #4), make sure they don't clutter your default UI (maybe hide them behind a small button in preferences). There's a reason why Dropbox is so popular, and it's because it's just a folder that syncs. You might want to preserve that simplicity as much as you can in AeroFS too.

Since up votes are hidden now, just want to make it clear that I +1 this.

Re: AeroFS - File Sync Without Servers

#105

Good morning everyone, I'm one of the co-founders of AeroFS. I'll be here the rest of the day answering questions as they come up, if anyone has them. Otherwise, feel free to either chat with me on the website, and/or through support@aerofs.com :-)

love an invite if possible. timesuck.guid@gmail.com

Re: AeroFS - File Sync Without Servers

#107
I have been using this for a while and am waiting for full Amazon S3 support, versioning and backup/upload any file (not just in AeroFS folder). I liked how I was able to talk to the creator the day I installed it. He seemed very optimistic. I see a lot of potential in this but as of right now dropbox has it beat. I am looking forward to more updated (soon!)

Re: AeroFS - File Sync Without Servers

#108
post #100
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest problem I have with centralized servers in the first place is that I don't trust my data with them. If it was decentralized and open source, that's an app I could see myself using. Closed source = no good for privacy.

I think that AeroFS only uses central servers to identify the IP addresses of participating hosts and negotiate a connection. AFAIK, the actual data flows directly peer to peer. So, even a malicious employee or government snoop would only know the IP of swarm participants. Presumably you'd still need to intercept and crack any encryption between nodes.

That's not the problem, the app being closed source and being able to do whatever it wants with my data is the problem.

Re: AeroFS - File Sync Without Servers

#109
Echoing joelthelion, I wonder: is this just a service selling you access to Tahoe-LAFS? If so, wouldn't it make more sense to just install Tahoe yourself instead of paying them and worrying about whether their version of the code is less secure than the publicly audited version?

(Actually, even if not. Why would you pay someone to have access to your own files on your own computer?)

Re: AeroFS - File Sync Without Servers

#110
post #77

This sounds very similar to Microsoft's LiveMesh. Besides that fact that it's not Microsoft, what are the big differences in functionality or usability (or is it totally different)?

This is exactly what I use Live Mesh for. I sync 10s of gigs of photos between remote PCs with it. The only thing I don't like about Live Mesh is that it's very difficult to tell what it's transferring and how long it's taking. It works, but I wouldn't be able to tell you "it'll be another 20 minutes before it's done". How does AeroFS stack up here?

There's a window with a list of current transfers with progress, speed and an ETA per transfer, but no global ETA (yet).
Post reply on HN