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Any alternative suggestions? SyncThing that is discussed here seems to need you to manage your own always-on system, which I suppose can be implemented via a cl

Any alternative suggestions? SyncThing that is discussed here seems to need you to manage your own always-on system, which I suppose can be implemented via a cloud server? I've been using Dropbox for years but this change means I need to re-organise, so may as well look at other options at the same time. I really enjoy the ease of right-click to share, if any other service has replicated that.

duckerude 7y ago
You don't need a server for Syncthing. Devices synchronize when they're both connected. It's decentralized. But Syncthing doesn't let you share a link to a file. For that there might be OwnCloud-based solutions.
yosamino 7y ago
It doesn't really require an always-on-system. That depends a little bit on what you use it for. For example I use it to synchronize the photos from my phone to my Laptop, whenever they can reach it other either by being on the same network or by connecting to the global syncthing "introducer" system, they start syncing. Having a "cloud" system becomes useful if you need to share a file with someone who's not online with you at the same time, which is a pretty big use-case I supposed. But that is a problem that any alternative that is software only will need to solve via some service. Nextcloud for example or also Seafile. Both have nice clients, but require some sort of server, whereas with syncthing the cloud part is optional.
vegetablepotpie 7y ago
I use ownCloud to sync files between my Windows and Linux computers. It’s pretty seamless and it’s a tool I’ve largely forgotten about and taken for granted. It does not meet your requirement of avoiding an always on system though, I run it on a home server.
veidr 7y ago
Yes, basically any $5/month VPS works great for Syncthing. The only thing I still do use Dropbox for is the share-with-whoever functionality, too. I'd be curious to hear about alternatives for that as well. (To me it seems pretty orthogonal to syncing folders across machines, though, and I'm fine with and probably prefer using different tools for that. Which I guess I am doing, since I use Syncthing for syncing and Dropbox for sharing.)
- jstanley 7y ago
  Nextcloud can do share-with-whoever quite easily.
- unionpivo 7y ago
  I use firefox send its surprisingly useful https://send.firefox.com/ https://send.firefox.com/ Where i need longer duration i just use gdrive
- GordonS 7y ago
  I use Seafile, which has a great web UI and let's you share files with anyone. Highly recommended it!
shreyshrey 7y ago
You can try tonido as well. It provides webui and right click to share features. You can run it in a docker if you want.
ishbits 7y ago
Syncthing can work. You don't get the centralized server though. Well you can run it on an always on system. I'd like this to be a VPS, but the files sit on the VPS in clear text. I like syncthing as it syncs file mode bits as well. Resilio Sync is decentralized as well. And lets you setup encrypted folders, so only peers with the password can decrypt them, but other peers can take part in the syncing. So I can run an instance on a VPS and not worry too much if it gets compromised. I find its Linux support lacking and wasn't as reliable as Syncthing for me. I'm going to try it again sometime. Seafile. Centralized server, can do encrypted folders. I'm going to look at this one again, but found the sync took a real long time, and I don't think it synced file mode bits. Nextcloud. Centralized server. Can do encrypted folders. Seemed OK, but didn't do mode bits. Currently I'm using Syncthing, where my central always on machine is my home server which would be running anyways. I like the idea of having a 'central' server in the cloud, but need that to be secured in a way that Syncthing can't do. So I'm not sure its my permanent solution yet. I also use Unison for much larger folders, like my code directories.

duckerude 7y ago

You don't need a server for Syncthing. Devices synchronize when they're both connected. It's decentralized. But Syncthing doesn't let you share a link to a file. For that there might be OwnCloud-based solutions.

yosamino 7y ago

It doesn't really require an always-on-system. That depends a little bit on what you use it for. For example I use it to synchronize the photos from my phone to my Laptop, whenever they can reach it other either by being on the same network or by connecting to the global syncthing "introducer" system, they start syncing. Having a "cloud" system becomes useful if you need to share a file with someone who's not online with you at the same time, which is a pretty big use-case I supposed. But that is a problem that any alternative that is software only will need to solve via some service. Nextcloud for example or also Seafile. Both have nice clients, but require some sort of server, whereas with syncthing the cloud part is optional.

vegetablepotpie 7y ago

I use ownCloud to sync files between my Windows and Linux computers. It’s pretty seamless and it’s a tool I’ve largely forgotten about and taken for granted. It does not meet your requirement of avoiding an always on system though, I run it on a home server.

veidr 7y ago

Yes, basically any $5/month VPS works great for Syncthing. The only thing I still do use Dropbox for is the share-with-whoever functionality, too. I'd be curious to hear about alternatives for that as well. (To me it seems pretty orthogonal to syncing folders across machines, though, and I'm fine with and probably prefer using different tools for that. Which I guess I am doing, since I use Syncthing for syncing and Dropbox for sharing.)

jstanley 7y ago
Nextcloud can do share-with-whoever quite easily.
unionpivo 7y ago
I use firefox send its surprisingly useful https://send.firefox.com/ https://send.firefox.com/ Where i need longer duration i just use gdrive
GordonS 7y ago
I use Seafile, which has a great web UI and let's you share files with anyone. Highly recommended it!

shreyshrey 7y ago

You can try tonido as well. It provides webui and right click to share features. You can run it in a docker if you want.

ishbits 7y ago

Syncthing can work. You don't get the centralized server though. Well you can run it on an always on system. I'd like this to be a VPS, but the files sit on the VPS in clear text. I like syncthing as it syncs file mode bits as well. Resilio Sync is decentralized as well. And lets you setup encrypted folders, so only peers with the password can decrypt them, but other peers can take part in the syncing. So I can run an instance on a VPS and not worry too much if it gets compromised. I find its Linux support lacking and wasn't as reliable as Syncthing for me. I'm going to try it again sometime. Seafile. Centralized server, can do encrypted folders. I'm going to look at this one again, but found the sync took a real long time, and I don't think it synced file mode bits. Nextcloud. Centralized server. Can do encrypted folders. Seemed OK, but didn't do mode bits. Currently I'm using Syncthing, where my central always on machine is my home server which would be running anyways. I like the idea of having a 'central' server in the cloud, but need that to be secured in a way that Syncthing can't do. So I'm not sure its my permanent solution yet. I also use Unison for much larger folders, like my code directories.