6 ms·

> Copying files with ssh/scp is fine, but requires previous arrangements and an account on the target machine, and how do you bootstrap the account?~ Assuming

by bhenc 9y ago

> Copying files with ssh/scp is fine, but requires previous arrangements and an account on the target machine, and how do you bootstrap the account?~ Assuming that you have openssh and rssh installed, you bootstrap like this: useradd -m -g users -s /usr/bin/rssh tmp passwd tmp edit /etc/rssh.conf and uncomment allowscp Share the password with the party you want to exchange data with. Make sure your ports are open. See: https://serverfault.com/questions/197545/can-non-login-accounts-in-linux-make-scp-connections/197546 https://serverfault.com/questions/197545/can-non-login-accou... The use case I see for wormhole is if you're working purely in the python ecosystem. That's it. You're free to disagree of course, but I prefer ssh, since it's peer-to-peer end-to-end encrypted, and extends to cover other use cases much more easily (rsync, VNC, etc.).

mschuster91 9y ago
When both parties are in a corp network (eg across companies) you would need a server anyway. Many either offer a FTP server or have switched to Accellion (which is kinda cr.p, and full of security holes)... so this is a nice, fast and secure alternative.
- bhenc 9y ago
  That is a good use case.
- adrianN 9y ago
  When both parties are in a corporate network their IT policy would forbid using magic wormhole. They'd have to use the file-transfer program managed by their IT department.
dmd 9y ago
> you bootstrap like this Ah, yes. oh come on please it's easy just /etc/init.apt-get/frob-set-conf --arc=0 - +/lib/syn.${SETDCONPATH}.so.4.2 even my grandma can do that
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- chairmanwow 9y ago
  I would like to highlight the quality of the satire in your comment.
- skocznymroczny 9y ago
  Classic, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224
bb88 9y ago
Okay. Step 1. Open ports on your router. It's your job to figure out which ports those may be. Step 2. Redirect said ports to the box in question, hopefully you'll know the ip address that was assigned by your home router's DHCP Step 3. Make sure rssh is installed. Step 4. If rssh is not installed, please simply follow the simple instructions to get it installed for your system. Step 4a. If it's a mac, use brew. Type brew install rssh Step 4b. If it'a a redhat system, type yum install rssh Step 4c. If it's an ubuntu system, type apt-get install rssh Step 4d. If step 4b and step 4c fail, use sudo. Step 5. Get the external facing ip address, and give it to your friend. Note that this is different than the internal address that you used in step 2. Step 6. Create an account on your system, using rssh, and allowing sftp Step 7. Give him the username/password Step 8. Copy the file into his account Step 8a. Don't forget to chmod it so he can read it. Step 9. Tell him to get the file Step 10. Remove the account from /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow and remove him from /etc/groups. Also delete his home directory Step 11. Rejoice in the simplicity.
- falcolas 9y ago
  Instead you get to pip install. But pip isn't installed. easy-install pip? What's easy-install - it's not there? (brew|yum|apt-get) disttools. Forget this... download get_pip.py, run python get_pip.py... Some error about libsodium now? Where do I get gcc for Windows 10 again? Python's greatest weakness is its packaging and distribution, and this project makes no effort to make it simple.
  - bb88 9y ago
    On the mac, you can: brew install magic-wormhole [1] And that covers 90% of the people that care. Granted I think you're right that software packaging and distribution is still generally broken in 2017, but that's a problem across the board. It's a problem with java, node.js, python, etc. [1] https://github.com/warner/magic-wormhole https://github.com/warner/magic-wormhole
    - vacri 9y ago
      So... 'brew install rssh' is bad and kludgy, but 'brew install magic-wormhole' is easy and light? And hey, if you're not on a mac, you have to also install a bunch of other deps too. You probably shouldn't have tried to pad out your steps by taking a detour into package management.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
zwischenzug 9y ago
Surprised no-one has mentioned socat ('netcat on steroids') in this context, which is what I use to quickly transfer files, especially in closed network contexts.
d0mine 9y ago
You can use ssh/scp in pure Python (e.g., StaSh on Pythonista for iOS provides scp/ssh commands).
penetrarthur 9y ago
And Dropbox is just an FTP server with SVN.

by bhenc 9y ago

mschuster91 9y ago

When both parties are in a corp network (eg across companies) you would need a server anyway. Many either offer a FTP server or have switched to Accellion (which is kinda cr.p, and full of security holes)... so this is a nice, fast and secure alternative.

bhenc 9y ago
That is a good use case.
adrianN 9y ago
When both parties are in a corporate network their IT policy would forbid using magic wormhole. They'd have to use the file-transfer program managed by their IT department.

dmd 9y ago

> you bootstrap like this Ah, yes. oh come on please it's easy just /etc/init.apt-get/frob-set-conf --arc=0 - +/lib/syn.${SETDCONPATH}.so.4.2 even my grandma can do that

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
chairmanwow 9y ago
I would like to highlight the quality of the satire in your comment.
skocznymroczny 9y ago
Classic, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224

bb88 9y ago

Okay. Step 1. Open ports on your router. It's your job to figure out which ports those may be. Step 2. Redirect said ports to the box in question, hopefully you'll know the ip address that was assigned by your home router's DHCP Step 3. Make sure rssh is installed. Step 4. If rssh is not installed, please simply follow the simple instructions to get it installed for your system. Step 4a. If it's a mac, use brew. Type brew install rssh Step 4b. If it'a a redhat system, type yum install rssh Step 4c. If it's an ubuntu system, type apt-get install rssh Step 4d. If step 4b and step 4c fail, use sudo. Step 5. Get the external facing ip address, and give it to your friend. Note that this is different than the internal address that you used in step 2. Step 6. Create an account on your system, using rssh, and allowing sftp Step 7. Give him the username/password Step 8. Copy the file into his account Step 8a. Don't forget to chmod it so he can read it. Step 9. Tell him to get the file Step 10. Remove the account from /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow and remove him from /etc/groups. Also delete his home directory Step 11. Rejoice in the simplicity.

falcolas 9y ago
Instead you get to pip install. But pip isn't installed. easy-install pip? What's easy-install - it's not there? (brew|yum|apt-get) disttools. Forget this... download get_pip.py, run python get_pip.py... Some error about libsodium now? Where do I get gcc for Windows 10 again? Python's greatest weakness is its packaging and distribution, and this project makes no effort to make it simple.
- bb88 9y ago
  On the mac, you can: brew install magic-wormhole [1] And that covers 90% of the people that care. Granted I think you're right that software packaging and distribution is still generally broken in 2017, but that's a problem across the board. It's a problem with java, node.js, python, etc. [1] https://github.com/warner/magic-wormhole https://github.com/warner/magic-wormhole
  - vacri 9y ago
    So... 'brew install rssh' is bad and kludgy, but 'brew install magic-wormhole' is easy and light? And hey, if you're not on a mac, you have to also install a bunch of other deps too. You probably shouldn't have tried to pad out your steps by taking a detour into package management.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

zwischenzug 9y ago

Surprised no-one has mentioned socat ('netcat on steroids') in this context, which is what I use to quickly transfer files, especially in closed network contexts.

d0mine 9y ago

You can use ssh/scp in pure Python (e.g., StaSh on Pythonista for iOS provides scp/ssh commands).

penetrarthur 9y ago

And Dropbox is just an FTP server with SVN.