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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

#111

Post by mrlala »

0_gravitas wrote: post #90

Perhaps I dont fully understand the value of something like DropBox, when it comes to syncing my files the only thing I've ever needed has been github (or other online repo). Among syncing it has all the other version control goodness, and I will likely use it until I can setup some kind of home server

Lots of things have nothing to do with a repo?

I work remotely with my colleagues. We constantly are doing stuff like creating/updating excel files and all sorts of other stuff that has nothing to do with source code.

With dropbox (or equivalents) I update something in the file, and it's updated right away everywhere no matter where my co-workers are.

Dropbox also has good enough built-in version history (especially on business), it will keep the changes of any file for like 6 months. So if I want to look how this excel file looked an hour ago, I just click "version history" and it pulls up all the different files and I can restore any one.

So for people who work remotely and just want to sync files / have some ability to restore previous versions dropbox is a life changer.

Yeah, of course this could all be setup to have each person on a VPN and using a shared folder on a server where we are logged into the domain or we setup a ZFS filesystem which takes snapshots and I can restore etc etc. In a small company, F that. I've done all that bullshit, it isn't worth the time and maintenance when you just want a damn synced filesystem among co-workers.

So there is the value proposition!

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

#112

Post by manigandham »

spacenick88 wrote: post #109

I deleted my account when they purposefully made their Linux version not launch on any other FS than ext4. I use btrfs and that supports all the features they use, still Dropbox refused to work with it. I complained to their support and then deleted my account. Then again I guess having a private server with NextCloud means I'm pretty privileged.

Linux users are already a tiny fraction to be worth the support costs. Adding multiple filesystems isn't viable.

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

#114

Post by papln »

bhouston wrote: post #40
CPLX wrote: post #3

This seems like a good time to resurface the worlds best Quora answer, by Michael Wolfe. Answering “Why is Dropbox more popular than other tools with similar functionality?”: Well, let's take a step back and think about the sync problem and what the ideal solution for it would do: There would be a folder. You'd put your stuff in it. It would sync. They built that. Why didn't anyone else build that? I have no idea. "B…

> "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…

> Windows by default has cloud sync

on Mac and iOS and Linux and Android?

> macOS does as well.

On Windows and Linux and Android?

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

#115

Post by plorkyeran »

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…

Microsoft made dramatic changes to how sound drivers worked that caused problems for SoundBlaster's advanced features, but the explanation at the time was that SoundBlaster's garbage drivers were responsible for a sizeable portion of Windows' BSODs, and redesigning the driver model was a critical part of making the OS stable. I've never seen a reason to doubt that narrative.

Overlay mode wasn't a CRT feature, and worked fine with flat panel displays with XP. The introduction of GPU compositing in Vista was what killed it, but it still continued to work in 7 if you turned compositing off. The death of funky resolutions was entirely a result of switching to hardware which has a native resolution, and not anything software side.

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

#117

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

manigandham wrote: post #112
spacenick88 wrote: post #109

I deleted my account when they purposefully made their Linux version not launch on any other FS than ext4. I use btrfs and that supports all the features they use, still Dropbox refused to work with it. I complained to their support and then deleted my account. Then again I guess having a private server with NextCloud means I'm pretty privileged.

Linux users are already a tiny fraction to be worth the support costs. Adding multiple filesystems isn't viable.

It's not added; it used to work and then they removed it.

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

#118

Post by s09dfhks »

zymhan wrote: post #39

Has anyone clicked the link at all? Dropbox says this was a feature in testing that got accidentally deployed, not an intended update. > Update 4:06pm ET: Dropbox says this was a mistake. "We recently announced a new desktop app experience that is now currently available in Early Access. Due to an error, some users were accidentally exposed to the new app for a short period of time. The issue has been resolved, thoug…

"accidentally" deployed........to everyone

ah yes, happens all the time

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

#119

Post by okanesen »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #33
m_eiman wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've switched to Syncthing, which just syncs files and not all the other that Nextcloud does (which I'm not interested in). https://syncthing.net/

I have used Syncthing for projects at work and can attest that it is a solid and simple Dropbox replacement. Though I'm not sure they support Android/iOS yet. Edit: it is clear from the comments that there is at least an Android client.

There is fsync() [0] for iOS.

[0]: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fsync/id964427882?mt=8

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

#120

Post by dangus »

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

Step 6: Maintain your server in perpetuity constantly patching and acting as a one-person security team while not getting paid for it.

(This is my not-stealthy way of saying that Nextcloud is a rather impossible alternative to Dropbox for its typical user)

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