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Dropbox telemetry can't be disabled

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Re: Dropbox telemetry can't be disabled

#151

Post by netruk44 »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #136
popey wrote: post #34

I switched away from Dropbox to Syncthing https://syncthing.net/ a few years ago. Running it on Windows, Mac and Linux (I don't use it on mobile) to keep all manner of files in sync across a bunch of machines. While it doesn't have all the shell integration and end-user friendliness of Dropbox, it also doesn't have the pitfalls like (non-optional) telemetry and constant up-sell.

I use Syncthing too, but only between my local machines. I don't use it for cloud backup because I've never found 2 TB of cloud storage as cheap as Dropbox. If anybody knows of such a vendor I'd love to hear about it. Edit: I should further qualify that I'm not interested in solutions that would lock me into Apple's walled garden or anybody else's.

If you’re okay with a VPS, Servarica’s 2022 Black Friday offerings (which are still available) has a 2 TB HDD VPS for $48/year.

Re: Dropbox telemetry can't be disabled

#153

Post by dunham »

japanuspus wrote: post #95
mikae1 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or use an open source client without telemetry such as https://maestral.app ㋡

This. Recently came back to macOS after a decade on the other side, and one surprise was how terrible the official Dropbox client was. Installed Maestral instead and it just works -- just like Dropbox used to. I see Dropbox as one of the biggest failures of the VC model. If only they had been bootstrapped, they would probably have stuck with their initial sync offering: A perfectly executed solution to a problem ever…

Yeah, I bailed around the time they switched to a gigantic electron app and increased the prices with no added functionality that I wanted.

Re: Dropbox telemetry can't be disabled

#154

Post by cma »

layer8 wrote: post #90
p-e-w wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I'm glad they didn't. The mere existence of such a feature would make me worry about unintentionally enabling it and exposing private data as a result.

You don’t expose data just by enabling the sharing, because it’s only accessible via a URL containing a hash-like identifier that can’t be guessed. It’s not more realistic than someone guessing your Syncthing password.

It is a problem if you use Edge: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35703789

Re: Dropbox telemetry can't be disabled

#155

Post by password4321 »

api wrote: post #148
doersino wrote: post #2

I’ve been using https://github.com/samschott/maestral instead of Dropbox’s client for the last year or so and it’s been rock-solid.

Anything like this for Google Drive? That client also used to be good but has become complete bloated trash in recent years. It seems like all chat, conference, and collaboration software must devolve into bloated slow buggy trash over time.

https://rclone.org/ is only like maestral if you squint hard enough, but it does support Google Drive (and Dropbox).

Re: Dropbox telemetry can't be disabled

#156

Post by xpil »

I actually enjoy Dropbox - for a flat fee of ~€10/month I get 2TB of cloud space plus the synchronization across unlimited devices. I don't mind the telemetry thing, at least not too much.

However, their approach to Android is absolutely ridiculous. There is no files or folders synchronization - at least not at the OS level, like in Windows or Linux. If I need to access my Dropbox files on an Android device, the only way is to do it via the Dropbox app, and it is clunky. The biggest pain point is that I cannot use 3rd party apps to open a folder in my Dropbox storage - I can open a single file, fine, but for example Obsidian is out of reach as it requires opening an entire folder, which is currently not possible.

(I can create an offline copy of the folder on the device and open that one but it defies the purpose of having a sophisticated synchronization software).

So I think at some point I will start investigating alternatives.

Re: Dropbox telemetry can't be disabled

#157

Post by okasaki »

abhibeckert wrote: post #92
1vuio0pswjnm7 wrote: post #19

Many times on HN, commenters have mocked those who questioned why someone would use Dropbox instead of a method controlled by the user. I guess becausse someone made lots of money from it or it became popular or something. I always found this perplexing because I look at solutions from the perspective of the user, namely, me, not from the perspective of a third party "tech" startup founder. It's insensitive to the pe…

> I confess I have never used it. I still rely on USB sticks Phew boy. You really should try dropbox or a competing service.* Picture this: 1. Double click a file 2. Type some words 3. Save the file That's it. There is no step 4. Your file is now synced to all your other computers and to any colleagues who also need that file. Seriously you shouldn't be using USB sticks these days. Also - I'm guessing you haven't sta…

We all know how it works. Some of us don't want the automatic syncing.

Re: Dropbox telemetry can't be disabled

#158

Post by generalizations »

digital_voodoo wrote: post #142
generalizations wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh. Just set up syncthing. Came back to it about a year ago, and it's worked flawlessly across 5+ devices with ~8 synced folders ever since.

Worth mentioning that Syncthing doesn't have a cloud part, while DB does. That said, I've been running it since the very beginning, even before it became public/known, and it had never failed me so far.

Syncthing does encrypted nodes now, so I have an encrypted laptop node running offsite; that, coupled with a mostly-on desktop pc and an always-on headless mac mini running void, and I have a 100+GB 'cloud' with syncthing.

Honestly, the best way I found to prevent sync errors is to make sure there's continuity...that there's always some computer, somewhere, that's running and knows what the latest version actually is.

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