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Show HN: NoFile.io – A simple file storage site with lots of perks

nofile.io

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Re: Show HN: NoFile.io – A simple file storage site with lots of perks

#121

Post by Nadya »

Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #106

I have some thoughts for you as someone who's done this before. I used to run a file hosting site called MediaCrush with a buddy of mine. It was moderately successful, but we ended up shutting it down. I later switched to a file host called pomf.se, which eventually was shut down as well. I wrote a blog post that sums up my thoughts on public file hosting: On the profitability of image hosting websites - https://drew…

This is the second, possibly third, time I've seen you link to your post about public file hosting - and this is the second, possibly third, time I'll agree entirely.

There are tons of pomf.se clones - many that have been going on for years as well. The important part for many of these hosts is that (a) enough people donate to keep it online and/or (b) the community remains small enough to remain affordable for the dev. Personally I use a combination of safe.moe and mixtape.moe.

Often times I've noticed these are "labor of love" projects where a dev can work on learning how to (a) keep a server running and (b) upgrade services without any/significant downtime, etc. Standard DevOps things. The monthly cost to these sort of people is seen as a "learning cost" in a real environment where they have hundreds of, if not thousands or more, users depending on them to not mess things up.

>I hate that if I look at a forum post written >5 years ago, odds are all of the images will be broken.

Inactivity pruning is largely to blame for this, not just new websites going under. IIRC, even Imgur does pruning after 6 months of inactivity (no views) which is totally possible on niche technical forum posts.

Re: Show HN: NoFile.io – A simple file storage site with lots of perks

#123

Post by redm »

HomebrewCC wrote: post #114
Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #106

I have some thoughts for you as someone who's done this before. I used to run a file hosting site called MediaCrush with a buddy of mine. It was moderately successful, but we ended up shutting it down. I later switched to a file host called pomf.se, which eventually was shut down as well. I wrote a blog post that sums up my thoughts on public file hosting: On the profitability of image hosting websites - https://drew…

I feel like WeTransfer has got this right. They have wonderful full page ads and are monetizing by selling premium accounts to corporates, which have the ability to change the ads to fit their branding. https://wetransfer.com

WeTransfers user experience is great. I'm not sure the economics are ultimately going to work for them; the funding [1] gives them some runway, but they are already transitioning to more of a cloud storage provider. Simple utilities usually add bloat to drive value for premium plans. [2] In my experience, as they approach Google Drive and Dropbox in features, the product will bloat and become less functional and useful.

[1]: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/33710/20150220/wetransfer-...

[2]: https://wetransfer.com/plus/

Re: Show HN: NoFile.io – A simple file storage site with lots of perks

#124

Post by thomasluce »

Nice idea and design. Along with what other people have said, though, turn off all the js animations. They make it nigh impossible to quickly asses content and actionable items, requiring that a person sit and stare for longer than needed without getting any new or useful information. The design is nice on its own; it doesn't need to be dressed up more, and if you feel it does than that's a sign that you don't like the design and should change that instead. Just my opinion.

Re: Show HN: NoFile.io – A simple file storage site with lots of perks

#125

Post by rsync »

Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #106

I have some thoughts for you as someone who's done this before. I used to run a file hosting site called MediaCrush with a buddy of mine. It was moderately successful, but we ended up shutting it down. I later switched to a file host called pomf.se, which eventually was shut down as well. I wrote a blog post that sums up my thoughts on public file hosting: On the profitability of image hosting websites - https://drew…

"Currently I run a file hosting service with controlled growth."

Why do you do this ... that is, run a file hosting service for 130 people ? Is it a friends and family IT enabler sort of thing that you do to be nice ?

Or is there some kind of business here that I can't envision ?

Re: Show HN: NoFile.io – A simple file storage site with lots of perks

#126

Post by rsync »

oron wrote: post #91

I'm operating DropJar.om and I can say it's a big headache. For some reason I keep getting DMCA notices from all kinds of lawyers and the occasional take down notice from police when ISIS videos are uploaded there. No income and tons of complaints. http://dropjar.com

"For some reason I keep getting DMCA notices from all kinds of lawyers and the occasional take down notice from police when ISIS videos are uploaded there. No income and tons of complaints."

Everyone I have shown Oh By[1] to has immediately wondered "Oh, could you upload an image instead of text ?". The answer is no and will always be no, for these reasons.

It's evident right here on HN - limiting people to text weeds out a lot of the children/griefers/criminals.

[1] https://0x.co

Re: Show HN: NoFile.io – A simple file storage site with lots of perks

#127

Post by Sir_Cmpwn »

rsync wrote: post #125
Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #106

I have some thoughts for you as someone who's done this before. I used to run a file hosting site called MediaCrush with a buddy of mine. It was moderately successful, but we ended up shutting it down. I later switched to a file host called pomf.se, which eventually was shut down as well. I wrote a blog post that sums up my thoughts on public file hosting: On the profitability of image hosting websites - https://drew…

"Currently I run a file hosting service with controlled growth." Why do you do this ... that is, run a file hosting service for 130 people ? Is it a friends and family IT enabler sort of thing that you do to be nice ? Or is there some kind of business here that I can't envision ?

Yep, it's a friends and family thing. Often friends of friends. Anyone who gets to know me a little bit can get an account. Since growth is controlled, costs are low. Since users are expected to donate, that completely stops being a concern.

The world is a smaller place than it seems. I've noticed this site having a measurable impact on the web around me, and lots of files that might have disappeared are sticking around now (23,946 of them, in fact).

Re: Show HN: NoFile.io – A simple file storage site with lots of perks

#128

Post by rsync »

NoFile wrote: post #50
daemonk wrote: post #34

I like it. But I would like a more concrete answer to how long the files are kept. "As long as possible" is not really a great answer. I don't expect it to be there indefinitely, but something like "For at least 5 days. And no guarantee longer than that" would be fine with me.

It's a difficult question to answer exactly how long a file would be kept as the deletion is based on two factors: - How active the file is (e.g if the file isn't downloaded in X days). - How much space that's available on the storage servers. As mentioned in a previous comment, the site's operating on small margins so the majority of the income will go to expanding the storage in order to make sure that your file is…

What storage back-end do you use ? I assume S3 but am genuinely curious ...

Re: Show HN: NoFile.io – A simple file storage site with lots of perks

#129

Post by tmaly »

atomi wrote: post #120
Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #106

I have some thoughts for you as someone who's done this before. I used to run a file hosting site called MediaCrush with a buddy of mine. It was moderately successful, but we ended up shutting it down. I later switched to a file host called pomf.se, which eventually was shut down as well. I wrote a blog post that sums up my thoughts on public file hosting: On the profitability of image hosting websites - https://drew…

I also ran some file/image hosting sites in early 2000s and another reason not to do them is that people post the most vile content and moderating can cause ptsd.

How did you deal with this content?
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