5 ms·

Nitter link: https://nitter.net/Werner/status/1734890651378975007 https://nitter.net/Werner/status/1734890651378975007 It took a while, but the arc of history

by rchaud 3y ago

Nitter link: https://nitter.net/Werner/status/1734890651378975007 https://nitter.net/Werner/status/1734890651378975007 It took a while, but the arc of history is starting to bend in favour of that guy who said 'just use rsync' on Drobox's Show HN post in 2007.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
capableweb 3y ago
> It took a while, but the arc of history is starting to bend in favour of that guy who said 'just use rsync' on Drobox's Show HN post in 2007. It be interesting to see a breakdown on "time spent" between the people who went with Dropbox and started syncing stuff right away VS the people who first setup their own infrastructure to do the same thing.
tinyhouse 3y ago
What are you talking about? They have almost 20M paying users for a reason. Good luck asking all people in your company to use rsync.
- jacquesm 3y ago
  He's talking about the fact that those people don't need to worry about third parties accessing their files without their consent.
  - SoftTalker 3y ago
    I guess that depends on where you are rsync-ing to?
throwup238 3y ago
It was FTP [1]. If only he had said rsync, we wouldn't be here now /s [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224
neilv 3y ago
I'd still assume that the bulk of Dropbox users are the kind who wouldn't want to figure out `rsync`. For better or worse, even enough grad students at MIT (which used to be one of the more computers-clueful places) used Dropbox so heavily that they included the Dropbox logo on the grad class ring: https://thetech.com/2013/09/06/gradrat-v133-n35 https://thetech.com/2013/09/06/gradrat-v133-n35 The class rings have considerable symbolism, and are very important to some. I've heard that the rings can also be real icebreakers at some startup events (between people with MIT connections): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_class_ring https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_class_ring
- zozbot234 3y ago
  > I'd still assume that the bulk of Dropbox users are the kind who wouldn't want to figure out `rsync`. That's because OS's don't bother to support rsync with good UX. That's what the old "My Briefcase" feature in Windows 9x was all about. It even had special-case support for difference merging (or "reconciliation") which rsync alone doesn't quite provide.
- rchaud 3y ago
  Average users don't want to figure anything out: adblockers, torrents, cloud sync, you name it. It's only when they get screwed by the vendor that they realize that having a non-commercial, non-enshittified alternative is crucial to counterbalance tech company malfeasance.
EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 3y ago
rsync ... to where? You need to rent a server first. And to do that you need a credit card. And if you die, said credit card gets canceled, as is your server, as is all your data. Happened to me with a paid Dropbox account - card expired, all data lost. A free Dropbox account has an advantage that it is good for eternity (well, not a guarantee, but a reasonable assumption). Also good for privacy. I do rsync too (robocopy, to be exact), and I prepaid the server for 2 years, but still, dropbox plays an important role in ensuring longevity of my data.
charcircuit 3y ago
rsync doesn't offer AI capabilities. If you want to roll your own integration with OpenAI then you will still be sending data to OpenAI.

by rchaud 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

capableweb 3y ago

> It took a while, but the arc of history is starting to bend in favour of that guy who said 'just use rsync' on Drobox's Show HN post in 2007. It be interesting to see a breakdown on "time spent" between the people who went with Dropbox and started syncing stuff right away VS the people who first setup their own infrastructure to do the same thing.

tinyhouse 3y ago

What are you talking about? They have almost 20M paying users for a reason. Good luck asking all people in your company to use rsync.

jacquesm 3y ago
He's talking about the fact that those people don't need to worry about third parties accessing their files without their consent.
- SoftTalker 3y ago
  I guess that depends on where you are rsync-ing to?

throwup238 3y ago

It was FTP [1]. If only he had said rsync, we wouldn't be here now /s [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224

neilv 3y ago

I'd still assume that the bulk of Dropbox users are the kind who wouldn't want to figure out `rsync`. For better or worse, even enough grad students at MIT (which used to be one of the more computers-clueful places) used Dropbox so heavily that they included the Dropbox logo on the grad class ring: https://thetech.com/2013/09/06/gradrat-v133-n35 https://thetech.com/2013/09/06/gradrat-v133-n35 The class rings have considerable symbolism, and are very important to some. I've heard that the rings can also be real icebreakers at some startup events (between people with MIT connections): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_class_ring https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_class_ring

zozbot234 3y ago
> I'd still assume that the bulk of Dropbox users are the kind who wouldn't want to figure out `rsync`. That's because OS's don't bother to support rsync with good UX. That's what the old "My Briefcase" feature in Windows 9x was all about. It even had special-case support for difference merging (or "reconciliation") which rsync alone doesn't quite provide.
rchaud 3y ago
Average users don't want to figure anything out: adblockers, torrents, cloud sync, you name it. It's only when they get screwed by the vendor that they realize that having a non-commercial, non-enshittified alternative is crucial to counterbalance tech company malfeasance.

EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 3y ago

rsync ... to where? You need to rent a server first. And to do that you need a credit card. And if you die, said credit card gets canceled, as is your server, as is all your data. Happened to me with a paid Dropbox account - card expired, all data lost. A free Dropbox account has an advantage that it is good for eternity (well, not a guarantee, but a reasonable assumption). Also good for privacy. I do rsync too (robocopy, to be exact), and I prepaid the server for 2 years, but still, dropbox plays an important role in ensuring longevity of my data.

charcircuit 3y ago

rsync doesn't offer AI capabilities. If you want to roll your own integration with OpenAI then you will still be sending data to OpenAI.