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With Sync Solved, Dropbox Squares Off With Apple’s iCloud

39 points by rosariom 15y ago

scottschulthess 15y ago
Neither of them really "solve" sync. It's still a problem for complex applications but it works for say, 80% of the solutions. Anyways I use both and to me they aren't really competitors. Apple doesn't allow stuff like Dropbox to have tight integration with IOS - the biggest value iCloud provides is stuff like Photo syncing, which they aren't even good at. Funnily enough, what I do is enable iCloud photostream, then store my iPhoto library in Dropbox. The idea is that whenever I take a photo on my iPhone it gets seamlessly synced AND backed up automatically OTA.
- zdw 15y ago
  People solve sync and make judgements (right or wrong). That's why version control with full history is infinitely better than sync solutions for file management.
durzagott 15y ago
I love Dropbox and use it on all my devices. However, I really wish they would implement permissions on shared folders. It's one of the two most requested features that users want, but they still won't implement it [https://www.dropbox.com/votebox https://www.dropbox.com/votebox]. As soon as someone comes along that has integrates as seamlessly on my Windows PC, Linux PC and Android phone AND offers permissions on shared folders I will jump ship. I don't know why, but it actually makes me cross that they aren't listening to their user-base.
- heikkitoivonen 15y ago
  I know at least Egnyte (https://www.egnyte.com/ https://www.egnyte.com/) offers folder permissions, and has clients on Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone and iPad. The Linux client is available on some NAS devices and also as a VMWare appliance. Disclaimer: I work for Egnyte.
  - durzagott 15y ago
    Thanks, I'll look into it. Although, am I right in assuming that you don't offer a Linux desktop client?
    - heikkitoivonen 15y ago
      Right, no Linux desktop client at the moment. I don't think it would be especially difficult to make one, but we'd need enough demand to make the investment. But having said that, we do provide WebDAV API. Every modern OS I know of, including Linux, can mount a file system over WebDAV. It is not very efficient, and doesn't have all the features you would get with a client, but at least you have access to your files. Some people actually prefer to use only WebDAV, because that way as soon as you cut network connectivity the files are not accessible (security feature).
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
- TomOfTTB 15y ago
  There are already utilites that allow programs to read PSD files. I used ImageMagick (http://www.imagemagick.org/script/index.php http://www.imagemagick.org/script/index.php ) in one project and it worked fine for me. Actually, since ImageMagick is licensed under Apache2 my that may very well be what Dropbox is using to accomplish this.
- LeafStorm 15y ago
  It's not that hard. Basically they're just taking a diff (binary in this case) between the new version and the old version, uploading the diff, and applying it to the version stored on their servers.
  - TomOfTTB 15y ago
    binary comparisons are great if you aren't looking at shared files but once you get into a situation where two different people can be editing a file at the same time it really helps to know what data you're dealing with rather than just trying to do a straight binary comparison. You could very well be right about what they're planning but if that's the way they're going it will end up killing them in the end. As someone who administers Dropbox in a team environment the biggest issue is its creation of "Copy" files whenever there are simultaneous edits. I mean, think about it. If you're using Photoshop and your edits go into a copy file you basically have to re-do that work. There's no easy way to merge changes (I guess if you were working on different layers but still it's difficult).
    - tadfisher 15y ago
      Simultaneous editing isn't a problem Dropbox is meant to solve, or is realistically able to solve given the proliferation of document formats out there. For stuff like PSDs, collaborative editing really needs to be baked into the software (and by extension, the document format). For textual data, DVCS works well.
redthrowaway 15y ago
Reading these stories is a bit depressing. Coding since 5? Solving problems with Finder even Apple couldn't figure out? Is this really the level of technical accumen needed to make it in the startup world?

39 points by rosariom 15y ago

Neither of them really "solve" sync. It's still a problem for complex applications but it works for say, 80% of the solutions. Anyways I use both and to me they aren't really competitors. Apple doesn't allow stuff like Dropbox to have tight integration with IOS - the biggest value iCloud provides is stuff like Photo syncing, which they aren't even good at. Funnily enough, what I do is enable iCloud photostream, then store my iPhoto library in Dropbox. The idea is that whenever I take a photo on my iPhone it gets seamlessly synced AND backed up automatically OTA.

zdw 15y ago
People solve sync and make judgements (right or wrong). That's why version control with full history is infinitely better than sync solutions for file management.

durzagott 15y ago

I love Dropbox and use it on all my devices. However, I really wish they would implement permissions on shared folders. It's one of the two most requested features that users want, but they still won't implement it [https://www.dropbox.com/votebox https://www.dropbox.com/votebox]. As soon as someone comes along that has integrates as seamlessly on my Windows PC, Linux PC and Android phone AND offers permissions on shared folders I will jump ship. I don't know why, but it actually makes me cross that they aren't listening to their user-base.

heikkitoivonen 15y ago
I know at least Egnyte (https://www.egnyte.com/ https://www.egnyte.com/) offers folder permissions, and has clients on Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone and iPad. The Linux client is available on some NAS devices and also as a VMWare appliance. Disclaimer: I work for Egnyte.
- durzagott 15y ago
  Thanks, I'll look into it. Although, am I right in assuming that you don't offer a Linux desktop client?
  - heikkitoivonen 15y ago
    Right, no Linux desktop client at the moment. I don't think it would be especially difficult to make one, but we'd need enough demand to make the investment. But having said that, we do provide WebDAV API. Every modern OS I know of, including Linux, can mount a file system over WebDAV. It is not very efficient, and doesn't have all the features you would get with a client, but at least you have access to your files. Some people actually prefer to use only WebDAV, because that way as soon as you cut network connectivity the files are not accessible (security feature).

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

TomOfTTB 15y ago
There are already utilites that allow programs to read PSD files. I used ImageMagick (http://www.imagemagick.org/script/index.php http://www.imagemagick.org/script/index.php ) in one project and it worked fine for me. Actually, since ImageMagick is licensed under Apache2 my that may very well be what Dropbox is using to accomplish this.
LeafStorm 15y ago
It's not that hard. Basically they're just taking a diff (binary in this case) between the new version and the old version, uploading the diff, and applying it to the version stored on their servers.
- TomOfTTB 15y ago
  binary comparisons are great if you aren't looking at shared files but once you get into a situation where two different people can be editing a file at the same time it really helps to know what data you're dealing with rather than just trying to do a straight binary comparison. You could very well be right about what they're planning but if that's the way they're going it will end up killing them in the end. As someone who administers Dropbox in a team environment the biggest issue is its creation of "Copy" files whenever there are simultaneous edits. I mean, think about it. If you're using Photoshop and your edits go into a copy file you basically have to re-do that work. There's no easy way to merge changes (I guess if you were working on different layers but still it's difficult).
  - tadfisher 15y ago
    Simultaneous editing isn't a problem Dropbox is meant to solve, or is realistically able to solve given the proliferation of document formats out there. For stuff like PSDs, collaborative editing really needs to be baked into the software (and by extension, the document format). For textual data, DVCS works well.

redthrowaway 15y ago

Reading these stories is a bit depressing. Coding since 5? Solving problems with Finder even Apple couldn't figure out? Is this really the level of technical accumen needed to make it in the startup world?