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Build An Opensource Dropbox Clone

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Re: Build An Opensource Dropbox Clone

#41

Post by sprout »

w1ntermute wrote: post #37
telemachos wrote: post #28

This is an off-topic short rant. Vote as you like (obvious enough), but skip reading this if you want on-topic discussion. Shoot me if this is how the web is heading. (Recent browsing suggests maybe it is...) We get not only the insufferable "bottom bar" (is there a standard name for those yet?), but also a "top bar", a hover "Click Here to Share" box and a pop-up "Learn More, Instantly" box (not to mention the gener…

Add the following to your hosts file: # Web toolbars/widgets 127.0.0.1 wibiya.com 127.0.0.1 cdn.wibiya.com 127.0.0.1 apture.com 127.0.0.1 www.apture.com 127.0.0.1 cim.meebo.com In this case, the top toolbar is from Apture and the bottom from Wibiya.

Or simply install NoScript, and worry about whitelists, not blacklists.

I can get at the content there with no trouble, and don't have to worry about any of those toolbars.

Re: Build An Opensource Dropbox Clone

#42

Post by durin42 »

larelli wrote: post #35
aidanf wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've used Unison ( http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/ ) to get a dropbox type setup running across several machines.

I've thought about that as well. Could you give some details on the topology used? Did you run unison in automatic mode via cron?

I use unison for my code repositories (I use dropbox for other things) and I don't bother with it in cron. It's been fast enough in my experience that I don't mind waiting, and it sometimes (rarely) requires manual conflict resolution.

Re: Build An Opensource Dropbox Clone

#43

Post by w1ntermute »

sprout wrote: post #41
w1ntermute wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Add the following to your hosts file: # Web toolbars/widgets 127.0.0.1 wibiya.com 127.0.0.1 cdn.wibiya.com 127.0.0.1 apture.com 127.0.0.1 www.apture.com 127.0.0.1 cim.meebo.com In this case, the top toolbar is from Apture and the bottom from Wibiya.

Or simply install NoScript, and worry about whitelists, not blacklists. I can get at the content there with no trouble, and don't have to worry about any of those toolbars.

I've used NoScript, and it's extremely annoying having to enable it on each site you want it on. Not to mention blocking it in the hosts file automatically blocks it in all browsers, and that I don't agree with some of the things the NoScript author has done (http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/01/236248).

Re: Build An Opensource Dropbox Clone

#45

Post by wrs »

huhtenberg wrote: post #39
wrs wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been involved in a few consumer-oriented file synchronization projects, and I can assure you that the client technology is not at all simple or easy. Consider that all existing applications have no idea that you're changing the semantics of the filesystem, but you have to make them act in a way that makes sense to the end user (not a filesystem expert). Not to mention all the little issues of conflicts, deletion…

> crazy stuff that apps do for "atomic save" Care for an example?

It's been a while since I worked on this, but if I recall correctly...here's an example: Some Windows apps save by (1) writing a new file, (2) deleting the old file, (3) renaming new to old. The idea is that if it dies in the middle, you don't end up with no complete files. This sequence of events is actually recognized in the Windows filesystem code (if it happens quickly enough) and turned into a file-replace operation, which has very different semantics, particularly the effect of copying the metadata (think extended attributes) from old to new.

Actually the whole question of what to do with "advanced" filesystem semantics (like extended attributes) is pretty hard, especially if you're trying to sync across platforms where those semantics differ. You could just ignore them, but then if an app actually uses them (and why else would they exist?) then the file won't round-trip through the sync platform.

Re: Build An Opensource Dropbox Clone

#46

Post by mkramlich »

stevelosh wrote: post #32
telemachos wrote: post #28

This is an off-topic short rant. Vote as you like (obvious enough), but skip reading this if you want on-topic discussion. Shoot me if this is how the web is heading. (Recent browsing suggests maybe it is...) We get not only the insufferable "bottom bar" (is there a standard name for those yet?), but also a "top bar", a hover "Click Here to Share" box and a pop-up "Learn More, Instantly" box (not to mention the gener…

I activated Safari Reader as soon as I saw those walls of 12px text, so I had no idea what you were talking about until I went back and let the page finish loading. "Foul" is not a strong enough word for that. Maybe "vile" is better?

Same here. And I love Safari Reader aka Readability!

A good rule of thumb I have is that if you "have to put a bag over the head" of something in order to make that thing pleasant to digest or access (whether it's a UI or a bureaucracy or paperwork or a person or physical widget or whatever), then really the source thing itself should be designed that way in the first place. In this case, my own ideal style of web design is very close to what Readability/Reader produces. Thus making it redundant to the extent I've achieved my ideal.

Re: Build An Opensource Dropbox Clone

#47

Post by dagar »

res0nat0r wrote: post #25
gvb wrote: post #17

What about using unison http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/ instead of lsyncd? It seems like it would be more resilient. It does look like unison would require a cron job or human trigger where lsyncd is triggered by a file/directory change. On the plus side, it seems like unison would work better in an offline mode.

I've tried to use this on syncing my mp3 directory between two boxes and it seemed to be horribly slow. It needs to stat each file for a second or two before it even begins to sync, this takes way too long.

  -fastcheck
    do fast (and slightly unsafe) update detection on windows

Re: Build An Opensource Dropbox Clone

#48

Post by spirulina »

w1ntermute wrote: post #37
telemachos wrote: post #28

This is an off-topic short rant. Vote as you like (obvious enough), but skip reading this if you want on-topic discussion. Shoot me if this is how the web is heading. (Recent browsing suggests maybe it is...) We get not only the insufferable "bottom bar" (is there a standard name for those yet?), but also a "top bar", a hover "Click Here to Share" box and a pop-up "Learn More, Instantly" box (not to mention the gener…

Add the following to your hosts file: # Web toolbars/widgets 127.0.0.1 wibiya.com 127.0.0.1 cdn.wibiya.com 127.0.0.1 apture.com 127.0.0.1 www.apture.com 127.0.0.1 cim.meebo.com In this case, the top toolbar is from Apture and the bottom from Wibiya.

Thanks for the list

Just added these to the "Adblock Plus" Preferences in Firefox (under Tools).

Worked like a charm.

Re: Build An Opensource Dropbox Clone

#49

Post by dagw »

tofumatt wrote: post #19
xxpor wrote: post #5

I don't understand why dropbox doesn't open source their client. Their business isn't built off of their technology, which, while nice, isn't exactly novel. They make their money from selling storage. Open sourcing their client doesn't change the fundamental fact people need the space to store stuff.

Open sourcing the client could mean I run it off my own server, sitting in my apartment, for free. Granted, mostly geeks would be doing that, but I get the impression that many of Dropbox's user base _are_ geeks. Like someone else said: it's not just whether or not it would HURT Dropbox (though, as I've said, I'd argue it could), but whether or not open-sourcing their clients would actually HELP them. I doubt it woul…

I get the impression that many of Dropbox's user base _are_ geeks.

This is not my impression at all. Basically everybody I know uses dropbox, and very few of them are geeks. I was actually introduced to Dropbox by a non-geek boss I had who thought it was the greatest thing she'd ever used and insisted I also get it so we could share files.

Dropbox seems to have done a very good job of penetrating the general market, thanks in no small part to their pretty amazing and minimal UI. It's at the point now where I hear 'normal' people saying things like "can you share it to my dropbox" with the automatic assumption that the other person will know what it means.

Re: Build An Opensource Dropbox Clone

#50

Post by dagw »

rmc wrote: post #29
xxpor wrote: post #5

I don't understand why dropbox doesn't open source their client. Their business isn't built off of their technology, which, while nice, isn't exactly novel. They make their money from selling storage. Open sourcing their client doesn't change the fundamental fact people need the space to store stuff.

If it's open source, anyone can run a "DropBox sever", and charge what they want. This would mean DropBox does all the hardwork and is then undercut by someone else charging less than them.

Dropbox does however have a network effect. One of the big points, at least for me and most dropbox users I know, is sharing folders. That only works if you're on the same server as everybody else is.
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