Dropbox solves the problem of sharing a file I have, but on the receiving side of the equation, dbinbox (http://dbinbox.com/) is probably the easiest solution for non-technical folks.
My contribution to XKCD’s #949
11–20 of 56 posts
Re: My contribution to XKCD’s #949
#12The problem isn't 'sending a file', it's 'peer to peer communication', which is hard without an intermediary and/or shennanigans due to ubiquitous NAT. I image in the everyone-has-an-IP universe of ip6, this will no longer be an issue.
Re: My contribution to XKCD’s #949
#13You can always uses a p2p data transfer with WebRTC. All you need is a browser.
OK, I've got a browser window open right here. Now what? (Serious question.)
Re: My contribution to XKCD’s #949
#14Quick and easy file sharing is hard to do not only from a technical standpoint, but also from a legal standpoint. It only takes one DMCA lawsuit to shut down a file sharing startup. The likelihood of a lawsuit increases as the file sharing becomes easier, quicker, and more anonymous (as the chances that someone will use it for illegal purposes increases the easier and quicker and more anonymous it becomes).
You have to set some restrictions on who can share what with how many people and how often. Even torrent trackers that do not store any files other than the tracker become targets. I really would love it if there was a way to type "scp /home/freehunter/your-granddaughter-laughing.mpg //grandma/home/grandma/videos" with UPnP to get around grandma's dial-up NAT. Unfortunately, the closest we have is Dropbox (requires an account) or BitTorrent (requires dodging law enforcement and porn popups).
Re: My contribution to XKCD’s #949
#15The problem isn't 'sending a file', it's 'peer to peer communication', which is hard without an intermediary and/or shennanigans due to ubiquitous NAT. I image in the everyone-has-an-IP universe of ip6, this will no longer be an issue.
Private networks will always have a place for security and safety of all systems which will still make this a problem.
Re: My contribution to XKCD’s #949
#16Didn't Dropbox's share links more or less solve this problem? Maybe not for 100% of the population, but I've managed to walk my mom through the process, and isn't that generally the success metric for things like this?
I recently had to sign up with Dropbox just to download a file somebody was sharing with me.
The way UbuntuOne (and maybe other providers) just give you a link anybody can use is much better imho.
Re: My contribution to XKCD’s #949
#17I ran into a "trying to share files" thing recently, and I ran into the "pipe things over netcat" solution (http://superuser.com/questions/98089/sending-file-via-netcat). For techies it's pretty fun.
With things like google docs, I've found that file sharing has become a lot less necessary. We're sort of moving into a very file-less space, and I'm kinda fine with it.
Re: My contribution to XKCD’s #949
#18Ever tried talking a non-techie friend/relative through the process putting a port-forward on a NAT router? Not fun at all.
I believe he's connecting to a SSH server, and the server is proxying the request back to a local HTTP server. So there's no need to mess with port-forwards.
Re: My contribution to XKCD’s #949
#19Quick and easy file sharing is hard to do not only from a technical standpoint, but also from a legal standpoint. It only takes one DMCA lawsuit to shut down a file sharing startup. The likelihood of a lawsuit increases as the file sharing becomes easier, quicker, and more anonymous (as the chances that someone will use it for illegal purposes increases the easier and quicker and more anonymous it becomes). You have…
it really works: http://www.bittorrent.com/sync
Re: My contribution to XKCD’s #949
#20The problem isn't 'sending a file', it's 'peer to peer communication', which is hard without an intermediary and/or shennanigans due to ubiquitous NAT. I image in the everyone-has-an-IP universe of ip6, this will no longer be an issue.
ipv6 will still have this issue, because _no fucking way_ will i put a directly-accessible-from-anywhere computer on a network.
the "how do i serve a directory" problem is _so_ solved:
`python -m SimpleHTTPServer`
or:
dropbox (it's not hard to install, as much as xkcd whinges about it) google drive email
This is a solved problem.