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They've come a long way from their Show HN 10 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863 From a demo hacked

They've come a long way from their Show HN 10 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863 From a demo hacked together over a few months (written in Python, IIRC) and posted on HN to an IPO. Pretty cool, honestly.

pen2l 9y ago
I would be soooooo happy if I got to see the code that began it. Does it happen to available anywhere?
- imron 9y ago
  According to the original comments "you can already build such a system yourself quite trivially by getting an FTP account, mounting it locally with curlftpfs, and then using SVN or CVS on the mounted filesystem."
  - ryanlol 9y ago
    All you need is a nice quick python wrapper for that and you've got a business :)
    - briandear 9y ago
      Yes.. a a quick python script to market and sell it!
      - andai 9y ago
        Haha, I'd pay for that!
        imron 9y ago
        So would tens of millions of dropbox users.
  - kuschku 9y ago
    And that’s still true today. You can combine git with a file syncing system via FTP, SCP or WebDAV, and you get... SeaFile.
  - speedplane 9y ago
    I remember that comment vividly, and love it. What better example of tech not understanding design and product-market fit?
    - puranjay 9y ago
      I see similar comments on virtually every ShowHN thread. "You can just take these 5 extra steps and do it yourself! This product will fail" Somehow, HN seldom seems to grasp that people are inherently lazy and any solution that cuts work for them will find at least a few takers.
      - imron 9y ago
        They also fail to grasp that the know-how and ability of a technically minded person is different from most people who use computers. My mum can use Dropbox. She could not set up an ftp account, mount it locally with curlftpfs, and then use SVN or CVS with it.
        deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
      - zimpenfish 9y ago
        > HN seldom seems to grasp that people are inherently lazy I would dispute "inherently lazy" in favour of "have better things to spend their time on than crafting a personal solution to an already solved problem".
    - deadbunny 9y ago
      Basically most HN comments on new products then.
  - albedoa 9y ago
    That guy still posts here. In one of his most recent comments [1] he says "it's not all that hard to file your own taxes the old-fashioned way" and that it takes him "a full 12-16 hours (a solid day or two on a weekend)" :D Is he a long gimmick? 1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13924397 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13924397
  - amelius 9y ago
    But the "innovative" part is that Dropbox hacked into the OSX kernel to achieve better integration. See e.g. [1]. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12463338 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12463338
- justboxing 9y ago
  Not sure about the code, but here's the original Demo Video Drew had on their getdropbox.com landing page. It presents the features in a very entertaining way :) [ Sep 15th 2008 ] DropBox Demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QmCUDHpNzE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QmCUDHpNzE
  - PKop 9y ago
    This is one of the best product demo's I've seen. The product is just so fully formed, even back in 2008. Really is presented as "it just works". "Why do you keep sending me this crap" without comment, made me lol.
    - TeMPOraL 9y ago
      This video is really great. Lots of easter eggs - including the contents of the pictures and the Dropbox Trade Secrets folder (I laughed hard at "Pets.com Executive Summary.pdf").
- tyingq 9y ago
  If you can find an old version of the dropbox client, someone did document how to decrypt and decompile it back to python source. https://github.com/kholia/dedrop https://github.com/kholia/dedrop
Scea91 9y ago
Thanks for the link, it was really enlightening read. It is interesting to read the elaborated comments of some naysayers there who are stuck in their old ways and can't see the value of it yet. One of them describes his solution with FUSE and FTP that 'basically achieves the same' and has doubts that anyone would want to use Dropbox if they can use FTP. Same stuff surely happens here today.
- mattmanser 9y ago
  Though most of the comments are positive, it's only really BrandonM's comment which looks silly in hindsight. Quite a few valid questions and thoughts too, where is this stored, how are you handling locked down corp accounts, etc. It's a pity they hide the vote numbers these days.
  - chii 9y ago
    > Quite a few valid questions and thoughts too all of which are "merely" implementation details and polish. The analogy is that you've built a crude engine that can sit on a box in an axel to move rather than using an animal, but the nay-sayers ask how do you deal with the bad weather/water, and how do you brake and turn smoothly? The idea is fundamentally good, and it takes someone with vision to see through the smog of implementation details and problems.
- kobeya 9y ago
  I still don't see the value of it...
- amelius 9y ago
  I believe the naysayers will be right at some point. Cloud storage is really a race to the bottom.
- saimiam 9y ago
  > Same stuff surely happens here today. This is exactly what gives me hope when I post a sideproject here or on reddit and it is either met with radio silence or active resistance. I'm starting to suspect that horses don't actually like water.

pen2l 9y ago

I would be soooooo happy if I got to see the code that began it. Does it happen to available anywhere?

imron 9y ago
According to the original comments "you can already build such a system yourself quite trivially by getting an FTP account, mounting it locally with curlftpfs, and then using SVN or CVS on the mounted filesystem."
- ryanlol 9y ago
  All you need is a nice quick python wrapper for that and you've got a business :)
  - briandear 9y ago
    Yes.. a a quick python script to market and sell it!
    - andai 9y ago
      Haha, I'd pay for that!
      - imron 9y ago
        So would tens of millions of dropbox users.
- kuschku 9y ago
  And that’s still true today. You can combine git with a file syncing system via FTP, SCP or WebDAV, and you get... SeaFile.
- speedplane 9y ago
  I remember that comment vividly, and love it. What better example of tech not understanding design and product-market fit?
  - puranjay 9y ago
    I see similar comments on virtually every ShowHN thread. "You can just take these 5 extra steps and do it yourself! This product will fail" Somehow, HN seldom seems to grasp that people are inherently lazy and any solution that cuts work for them will find at least a few takers.
    - imron 9y ago
      They also fail to grasp that the know-how and ability of a technically minded person is different from most people who use computers. My mum can use Dropbox. She could not set up an ftp account, mount it locally with curlftpfs, and then use SVN or CVS with it.
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
    - zimpenfish 9y ago
      > HN seldom seems to grasp that people are inherently lazy I would dispute "inherently lazy" in favour of "have better things to spend their time on than crafting a personal solution to an already solved problem".
  - deadbunny 9y ago
    Basically most HN comments on new products then.
- albedoa 9y ago
  That guy still posts here. In one of his most recent comments [1] he says "it's not all that hard to file your own taxes the old-fashioned way" and that it takes him "a full 12-16 hours (a solid day or two on a weekend)" :D Is he a long gimmick? 1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13924397 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13924397
- amelius 9y ago
  But the "innovative" part is that Dropbox hacked into the OSX kernel to achieve better integration. See e.g. [1]. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12463338 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12463338
justboxing 9y ago
Not sure about the code, but here's the original Demo Video Drew had on their getdropbox.com landing page. It presents the features in a very entertaining way :) [ Sep 15th 2008 ] DropBox Demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QmCUDHpNzE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QmCUDHpNzE
- PKop 9y ago
  This is one of the best product demo's I've seen. The product is just so fully formed, even back in 2008. Really is presented as "it just works". "Why do you keep sending me this crap" without comment, made me lol.
  - TeMPOraL 9y ago
    This video is really great. Lots of easter eggs - including the contents of the pictures and the Dropbox Trade Secrets folder (I laughed hard at "Pets.com Executive Summary.pdf").
tyingq 9y ago
If you can find an old version of the dropbox client, someone did document how to decrypt and decompile it back to python source. https://github.com/kholia/dedrop https://github.com/kholia/dedrop

Scea91 9y ago

Thanks for the link, it was really enlightening read. It is interesting to read the elaborated comments of some naysayers there who are stuck in their old ways and can't see the value of it yet. One of them describes his solution with FUSE and FTP that 'basically achieves the same' and has doubts that anyone would want to use Dropbox if they can use FTP. Same stuff surely happens here today.

mattmanser 9y ago
Though most of the comments are positive, it's only really BrandonM's comment which looks silly in hindsight. Quite a few valid questions and thoughts too, where is this stored, how are you handling locked down corp accounts, etc. It's a pity they hide the vote numbers these days.
- chii 9y ago
  > Quite a few valid questions and thoughts too all of which are "merely" implementation details and polish. The analogy is that you've built a crude engine that can sit on a box in an axel to move rather than using an animal, but the nay-sayers ask how do you deal with the bad weather/water, and how do you brake and turn smoothly? The idea is fundamentally good, and it takes someone with vision to see through the smog of implementation details and problems.
kobeya 9y ago
I still don't see the value of it...
amelius 9y ago
I believe the naysayers will be right at some point. Cloud storage is really a race to the bottom.
saimiam 9y ago
> Same stuff surely happens here today. This is exactly what gives me hope when I post a sideproject here or on reddit and it is either met with radio silence or active resistance. I'm starting to suspect that horses don't actually like water.