6 ms·

The decentralized WeTransfer

115 points by alexsicart 9y ago

ape4 9y ago
At least, I like the name - IPFS (the InterPlanetary File System)
- gvx 9y ago
  Note that the submission is not about IPFS itself (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InterPlanetary_File_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InterPlanetary_File_System), but about Decentralized Cloud, which is a project that is built on top of IPSF.
lucideer 9y ago
This HN title needs revision. Otherwise, great link; nice looking project.
- grzm 9y ago
  Suggestion: "Decentralized-Cloud IPFS file transfer"
  - alexsicart 9y ago
    Good one
    - grzm 9y ago
      If you're no longer able to edit the submission title yourself, you can contact the mods via the Contact link in the footer and have them change it for you.
      - alexsicart 9y ago
        Okay thanks a lot :)
monokh 9y ago
I'm trying to figure out how this would be decentralised. As far as I understand, merely hosting something on IPFS doesn't make it decentralised if there is only one node. - Where is my file hosted when I receive it? - Has your server pinned and seeding that file? - Is there a distributed set of nodes that also host it?
- alexsicart 9y ago
  fully distributed
- mtgx 9y ago
  > As far as I understand, merely hosting something on IPFS doesn't make it decentralised if there is only one node. Doesn't that apply to torrents, too? If 2 or more people don't own (and share) the exact same content, then of course it's not decentralized.
  - alexsicart 9y ago
    It's not the same torrents than ipfs, completely different!! https://ipfs.io/ https://ipfs.io/
  - monokh 9y ago
    Sure, I guess the difference is, torrents have an inherent mechanism of becoming distributed. Once someone else has a whole/part of the file, they begin seeding immediately (unless stopped of course). In the case of this app, I just receive a download link which is a proxy for pulling something from the network. It would be something else, if the way to get a hold of this file would be through an IPFS node that the user was running.
    - StavrosK 9y ago
      I'm not really sure what you mean. IPFS works just like torrents. As soon as you receive the file, you start "seeding" it.
      - 9y ago
omarchowdhury 9y ago
This is the problem I see with decentralized projects. The user experience here, is essentially the same as WeTransfer. The only difference is the underlying technologies. Now, one would have to either blindly trust that the infrastructure is truly decentralized, or have the time and necessary skills to audit the code. And then they'd have to trust that web server is actually hooking up to the code that was just audited! What this means is, "decentralized" projects still require a level of trust, even on the behalf of people who understand what decentralization means. Next is the problem of the "masses". They already are using WeTransfer, or Dropbox for that matter. Why should they switch to this? Because it's decentralized? Now you have to explain to them what that means and why that's beneficial to them, and if you're successful there, they still have to: trust the code (and they only can do that by understanding it) and trust that you're actually deploying that code on your live interface. Thus, the decentralization community has got a marketing problem. Fortunately for Bitcoin they've got and continue to have massive amounts of free press, press which does not even actually highlight the decentralized aspect of Bitcoin, just the price action. There is no press movement to help catapult "decentralized infrastructure." I'm just saying, decentralized projects currently only seem to appeal to people who are interested in decentralization. There needs to be a way to move pass this hurdle if there's going to be the much sought after "mass adoption." The average person doesn't care how something works, they just care that it does work. And plenty solutions already work for them. I just hope in the end, we aren't just tinkering for the sake of tinkering.
- Joeboy 9y ago
  Recent reports of google docs arbitrarily removing people's access to their documents seem like pretty good marketing for decentralized solutions.
  - crazygringo 9y ago
    That was a bug. Are you saying decentralized solutions won't ever have bugs which temporarily prevent people from accessing certain files until the bug gets fixed?
    - 9y ago
highmastdon 9y ago
Bittorrent protocol is decentralized wetransfer right?
- xwvvvvwx 9y ago
  It would not be inaccurate to consider IPFS as an evolution of the Bittorrent protocol.
  - alexsicart 9y ago
    Very different protocols!
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - mkl 9y ago
      From the primary IPFS paper [1], which mentions "torrent" 26 times: "In IPFS, data distribution happens by exchanging blocks with peers using a BitTorrent inspired protocol" [1] https://github.com/ipfs/ipfs/tree/master/papers/ipfs-cap2pfs https://github.com/ipfs/ipfs/tree/master/papers/ipfs-cap2pfs
  - whyrusleeping 9y ago
    I wouldn't disagree with that.
- sirk390 9y ago
  Not really, with bittorent sender and receiving peers need to be online at the same time.
  - ahakki 9y ago
    It is quite obvious that for any file transfer system to work both sender and receiver have to be online at the same time. One sends the data and the other receives it.
jani123 9y ago
Very interesting.
gediminas_ 9y ago
So the server which hosts the application stores the file I upload, right? As I recall web implementation of js-ipfs isn't ready yet. This project could potentially be much more useful when js-ipfs is mature enough.
marmalade92 9y ago
has anyone thought that I dont want to store other people's files. that I dont want to store my files on someone else's computer? Decentralized is neat until 1 virus spreads in one second. beef it up then roll it out.
ar0 9y ago
Huh. Does this tool encrypt your files before sending them? If it is like “WeTransfer”, you would expect your files to be available only to people who know the private sharing link. However, my understanding is that IPFS will publish the file hash to adjacent notes, so unless they are encrypted people can listen for your provider records and look at your (presumably privately shared) files: https://discuss.ipfs.io/t/is-it-possible-to-store-private-objects-in-ipfs-without-encrypting-them/460/2 https://discuss.ipfs.io/t/is-it-possible-to-store-private-ob...
feikal 9y ago
down. seems slashdotted ehhmm hned

115 points by alexsicart 9y ago

ape4 9y ago

At least, I like the name - IPFS (the InterPlanetary File System)

gvx 9y ago
Note that the submission is not about IPFS itself (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InterPlanetary_File_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InterPlanetary_File_System), but about Decentralized Cloud, which is a project that is built on top of IPSF.

lucideer 9y ago

This HN title needs revision. Otherwise, great link; nice looking project.

grzm 9y ago
Suggestion: "Decentralized-Cloud IPFS file transfer"
- alexsicart 9y ago
  Good one
  - grzm 9y ago
    If you're no longer able to edit the submission title yourself, you can contact the mods via the Contact link in the footer and have them change it for you.
    - alexsicart 9y ago
      Okay thanks a lot :)

monokh 9y ago

I'm trying to figure out how this would be decentralised. As far as I understand, merely hosting something on IPFS doesn't make it decentralised if there is only one node. - Where is my file hosted when I receive it? - Has your server pinned and seeding that file? - Is there a distributed set of nodes that also host it?

alexsicart 9y ago
fully distributed
mtgx 9y ago
> As far as I understand, merely hosting something on IPFS doesn't make it decentralised if there is only one node. Doesn't that apply to torrents, too? If 2 or more people don't own (and share) the exact same content, then of course it's not decentralized.
- alexsicart 9y ago
  It's not the same torrents than ipfs, completely different!! https://ipfs.io/ https://ipfs.io/
- monokh 9y ago
  Sure, I guess the difference is, torrents have an inherent mechanism of becoming distributed. Once someone else has a whole/part of the file, they begin seeding immediately (unless stopped of course). In the case of this app, I just receive a download link which is a proxy for pulling something from the network. It would be something else, if the way to get a hold of this file would be through an IPFS node that the user was running.
  - StavrosK 9y ago
    I'm not really sure what you mean. IPFS works just like torrents. As soon as you receive the file, you start "seeding" it.
    - 9y ago

omarchowdhury 9y ago

This is the problem I see with decentralized projects. The user experience here, is essentially the same as WeTransfer. The only difference is the underlying technologies. Now, one would have to either blindly trust that the infrastructure is truly decentralized, or have the time and necessary skills to audit the code. And then they'd have to trust that web server is actually hooking up to the code that was just audited! What this means is, "decentralized" projects still require a level of trust, even on the behalf of people who understand what decentralization means. Next is the problem of the "masses". They already are using WeTransfer, or Dropbox for that matter. Why should they switch to this? Because it's decentralized? Now you have to explain to them what that means and why that's beneficial to them, and if you're successful there, they still have to: trust the code (and they only can do that by understanding it) and trust that you're actually deploying that code on your live interface. Thus, the decentralization community has got a marketing problem. Fortunately for Bitcoin they've got and continue to have massive amounts of free press, press which does not even actually highlight the decentralized aspect of Bitcoin, just the price action. There is no press movement to help catapult "decentralized infrastructure." I'm just saying, decentralized projects currently only seem to appeal to people who are interested in decentralization. There needs to be a way to move pass this hurdle if there's going to be the much sought after "mass adoption." The average person doesn't care how something works, they just care that it does work. And plenty solutions already work for them. I just hope in the end, we aren't just tinkering for the sake of tinkering.

Joeboy 9y ago
Recent reports of google docs arbitrarily removing people's access to their documents seem like pretty good marketing for decentralized solutions.
- crazygringo 9y ago
  That was a bug. Are you saying decentralized solutions won't ever have bugs which temporarily prevent people from accessing certain files until the bug gets fixed?
  - 9y ago

highmastdon 9y ago

Bittorrent protocol is decentralized wetransfer right?

xwvvvvwx 9y ago
It would not be inaccurate to consider IPFS as an evolution of the Bittorrent protocol.
- alexsicart 9y ago
  Very different protocols!
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - mkl 9y ago
    From the primary IPFS paper [1], which mentions "torrent" 26 times: "In IPFS, data distribution happens by exchanging blocks with peers using a BitTorrent inspired protocol" [1] https://github.com/ipfs/ipfs/tree/master/papers/ipfs-cap2pfs https://github.com/ipfs/ipfs/tree/master/papers/ipfs-cap2pfs
- whyrusleeping 9y ago
  I wouldn't disagree with that.
sirk390 9y ago
Not really, with bittorent sender and receiving peers need to be online at the same time.
- ahakki 9y ago
  It is quite obvious that for any file transfer system to work both sender and receiver have to be online at the same time. One sends the data and the other receives it.

jani123 9y ago

Very interesting.

gediminas_ 9y ago

So the server which hosts the application stores the file I upload, right? As I recall web implementation of js-ipfs isn't ready yet. This project could potentially be much more useful when js-ipfs is mature enough.

marmalade92 9y ago

has anyone thought that I dont want to store other people's files. that I dont want to store my files on someone else's computer? Decentralized is neat until 1 virus spreads in one second. beef it up then roll it out.

ar0 9y ago

Huh. Does this tool encrypt your files before sending them? If it is like “WeTransfer”, you would expect your files to be available only to people who know the private sharing link. However, my understanding is that IPFS will publish the file hash to adjacent notes, so unless they are encrypted people can listen for your provider records and look at your (presumably privately shared) files: https://discuss.ipfs.io/t/is-it-possible-to-store-private-objects-in-ipfs-without-encrypting-them/460/2 https://discuss.ipfs.io/t/is-it-possible-to-store-private-ob...

feikal 9y ago

down. seems slashdotted ehhmm hned