Blip: Peer-to-peer massive file sharing • Hacker News Board

Re: Blip: Peer-to-peer massive file sharing

#51

Post by BoredPositron » Tue, Jul 22, 2025, 5:14 PM UTC

kjksf wrote: post #38

subarctic wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His point is about it being a service vs just a peer to peer app

So you run the app. The other person runs the app. How do those 2 programs find out about each other? Well, they need to use some server that will connect all users, allow you to find the other person in order to send them a file. Even BitTorrent needs tracker servers to connect downloaders to uploaders. Now, you could try to make it run without a company behind it, like BitTorrent. I guess it's an exercise for the r…

Universities, the Debian Foundation, Nvidia, the ccc, hell even Microsoft run magic-wormhole relays... the only thing new here is the subscription and the hipster gui client.

Re: Blip: Peer-to-peer massive file sharing

#52

Post by ryandrake » Tue, Jul 22, 2025, 5:15 PM UTC

markasoftware wrote: post #43

"former dropbox engineers" doesn't mean a whole lot -- it's a large company where tens of thousands of people have worked over the years. It's not like this is by the founders or anything.

Yea, "former [COMPANY] employee" could mean anything. I'm not sure it's really much of a flex. I'm a former Apple employee. Nobody gives a shit, and nobody should--That doesn't count for anything if I were to do a software startup. It wouldn't even bear mentioning in a press release.

Re: Blip: Peer-to-peer massive file sharing

#53

Post by gnabgib » Tue, Jul 22, 2025, 5:16 PM UTC

abcd_f wrote: post #41

Tokumei-no-hito wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

nit-nit, what's wrong with cheap prices? price doesnt infer magnitude.

Cheap means "low in price". Price can't be "low in price", it can be just "low".

Cheap has many more meanings than that. It can mean comparatively inexpensive (a cheap Lamborghini), of inferior quality (cheap paperclip), miserly (he's too cheap to buy better), gained with little effort (cheap win).

Re: Blip: Peer-to-peer massive file sharing

#54

Post by drexlspivey » Tue, Jul 22, 2025, 5:17 PM UTC

poisonborz wrote: post #7

Free open source alternative: https://pairdrop.net

I vibe coded this in one hour to send files to my work laptop. Static page + webRTC + short lived cloudflare durable object to make the handshake.

https://send.drexl.dev/

Re: Blip: Peer-to-peer massive file sharing

#55

Post by readthenotes1 » Tue, Jul 22, 2025, 5:19 PM UTC

abcd_f wrote: post #5

This is a minor OCD nitpick, but > at super fast speeds Fast speeds aren't a thing, just like cheap prices and wet waters aren't.

That's a quality nit pick for sure.

J/k

It's a high quality nit pick imo:)

Re: Blip: Peer-to-peer massive file sharing

#56

Post by ishanjain28 » Tue, Jul 22, 2025, 5:19 PM UTC

poisonborz wrote: post #7

Free open source alternative: https://pairdrop.net

Are you people seriously suggesting webrtc crap in response to a native app built for much much high speed transfers? Unbelievable

Re: Blip: Peer-to-peer massive file sharing

#57

Post by ryandrake » Tue, Jul 22, 2025, 5:20 PM UTC

supportengineer wrote: post #21

miksak wrote: post #4

I wonder how widely usable is file sharing nowadays when most of the non tech people just use cloud services for their data, be it google docs or some cloud photo storage

Non-tech people couldn't tell you what a "file" is.

I think non-tech people used to be able to, but tech companies have been on a 10+ year long crusade against the concept of a "file" and where that file is "stored" and trying to blur once-sharp lines so that people forget. Tech really wants you to think of your data as an amorphous blob vaguely "in their app" and not worry about crisp delineations like files, whose hard drive those files are on, and whose machine that hard drive is in.

Re: Blip: Peer-to-peer massive file sharing

#58

Post by FabHK » Tue, Jul 22, 2025, 5:24 PM UTC

gnabgib wrote: post #53

abcd_f wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cheap means "low in price". Price can't be "low in price", it can be just "low".

Cheap has many more meanings than that. It can mean comparatively inexpensive (a cheap Lamborghini), of inferior quality (cheap paperclip), miserly (he's too cheap to buy better), gained with little effort (cheap win).

So what's a cheap price? A price of inferior quality? A miserly price? A price obtained with little effort? Or is after all a low price what's meant?

Re: Blip: Peer-to-peer massive file sharing

#59

Post by FabHK » Tue, Jul 22, 2025, 5:26 PM UTC

greener_grass wrote: post #3

Is this AirDrop but cross-platform?

Addressed in the FAQ:

> How is Blip different to nearby sharing like AirDrop? Apple’s “AirDrop” and Google’s “Nearby Share” can be really handy. However, they aren’t compatible with each other and require devices to be physically next to each other. They are also unreliable when transferring large files, and will often lose your progress.

> Blip doesn’t need devices to be nearby, so it’s much more reliable. Blip works wherever your internet connected devices are in the world, and works regardless of what kind of device you own. You can transfer from Android to Mac, Windows to iPhone, iPad to Android—you name it!

Re: Blip: Peer-to-peer massive file sharing

#60

Post by abcd_f » Tue, Jul 22, 2025, 5:26 PM UTC

gnabgib wrote: post #53

abcd_f wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cheap means "low in price". Price can't be "low in price", it can be just "low".

Cheap has many more meanings than that. It can mean comparatively inexpensive (a cheap Lamborghini), of inferior quality (cheap paperclip), miserly (he's too cheap to buy better), gained with little effort (cheap win).

Sure. Still doesn't make "cheap price" a valid combo.