6 ms·

Git-annex assistant: Like DropBox, but with your own cloud

174 points by urza 14y ago

dt7 14y ago
This seems quite similar to SparkleShare: http://sparkleshare.org/ http://sparkleshare.org/ Edit: Oops, SparkleShare is mentioned on the page. Looks like this will work better with larger files. He does mention that SparkleShare is a GUI and not 'just a folder', although in my experience it is 'just a folder', like Dropbox.
tomku 14y ago
Very cool, but I suspect that making it user-friendly and slick will end up being much more difficult than implementing the actual functionality was. Edit: I have another question/concern, does the implementation in Haskell mean that the end product will have a runtime dependency on GHC or the Haskell Platform?
- mikeplus48 14y ago
  No, ghc produces statically linked binaries by default (-dynamic if you don't like that).
  - tomku 14y ago
    A quick check of the git-annex package in Ubuntu shows that you're right, no runtime Haskell dependency. I can only assume that the same will be true for the user-friendly "assistant". Thanks!
  - egonschiele 14y ago
    This is true, but then those static binaries tend to be very big (50+ mb).
    - dons 14y ago
      50M!? 5 would be more likely, assuming stripping. As opposed to 5k with dyn libs.
      - joeyh 14y ago
        I'm up to 15 mb :/
- ZoFreX 14y ago
  Yeah, I am concerned by the plan to create a web front-end for managing files in one month, it seems... optimistic at best.
  - joeyh 14y ago
    The web frontend is functional.. took 2 weeks. Yesod rules. (Still many weeks more polish and additional functionality, but kickstarter funded me for a whole year!)
    - ZoFreX 14y ago
      I would say never under-estimate the amount of time polish takes - that last 10% of tweaking tiny details always takes a long time (or as the oft-repeated saying goes, the first 90% of work takes the first 90% of time, the last 10% of work takes the other 90% of time). Good to hear progress is promising though :)
rjzzleep 14y ago
i'm not sure if git is the right thing to choose to version big binary files.
- nodata 14y ago
  Why? What is?
  - rjzzleep 14y ago
    because your local history is bound to get really big in a short period of time? what is? well, I don't really think anything is. it works with svn and dropbox, but that doesn't mean that is a good choice either. obviously git etc. is mainly designed for text files. i've long thought about what the right way to approach this issue is. edit: will read more about annex
    - _delirium 14y ago
      Some of the commercial version-control systems handle big binaries reasonably well. That's one reason many game companies, for example, use Perforce, since it doesn't choke on piles of art assets.
- tomku 14y ago
  The project is based on git-annex, which is an extension that treats big binary files differently. Namely, it doesn't check in the file contents, so you don't get full-file versioning. You can find out more at http://git-annex.branchable.com/ http://git-annex.branchable.com/.
  - rjzzleep 14y ago
    hm ok, looks interesting, i'll have to read more about it's internals, thanks.
  - rmc 14y ago
    Technically you can use the SHA backend to git-annex, so the actual file contents can be tracked by git, giving you "full file versioning". It's just not checked into git.
rlpb 14y ago
I'd love to hear Joey's answer on this question: why Haskell?
- dons 14y ago
  He had said previously: Joeyh: "One (git-annex) is a large-ish, serious work, and I have been very pleased with how haskell has made it better, even though there was a learning curve (took me two weeks to write the first prototype, which I could have probably dashed off in perl in two days), and even though I have occasionally been blocked by the type system or something and had to do more work. One concrete thing I've noticed is that this is the only program where I have listed every single bug I fixed in the changelog -- because there have been so few, it's really a notable change to fix one!"
- dan00 14y ago
  Joey about the reusability of code: http://markmail.org/thread/nurcqm4yotgkmhbr http://markmail.org/thread/nurcqm4yotgkmhbr
BruceIV 14y ago
Maybe this is really juvenile, but does the logo look like a bladder to anyone else?
timtadh 14y ago
I didn't look closely at the kickstarter page but I use gitdocs[1] which is basically works like dropbox but syncs to a git repository. It works ok for my (light) usage. [1] https://github.com/bazaarlabs/gitdocs https://github.com/bazaarlabs/gitdocs [edit] It looks like git-annex solves the large binary blob problem with git (which I don't think gitdocs does) so maybe they could be integrated?
sciurus 14y ago
Joey blogs his progress on git-annex assistant in detail at http://git-annex.branchable.com/design/assistant/blog/ http://git-annex.branchable.com/design/assistant/blog/ Here's a post from his personal blog that hints at how he can afford to work on this project for a year on only $20,000- http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/notes_for_a_caretaker/ http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/notes_for_a_caretaker/
- peterwwillis 14y ago
  So apparently he lives in the woods in a solar powered shack. I guess that would keep costs down. http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/solar_day_2/ http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/solar_day_2/ http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/solar_year/ http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/solar_year/
  - joeyh 14y ago
    A solar powered 3-bedroom split-level house, but yeah. ;)
- icebraining 14y ago
  Check once a day (especially on windy or stormy days) that the fridge is lit, by touching the black pipe sticking above it on the back. That's its chimney. What...?
  - insaneirish 14y ago
    Absorption refrigerator: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_refrigerator http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_refrigerator
    - tedunangst 14y ago
      link for people using real computers. :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_refrigerator http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_refrigerator
- northband 14y ago
omgmog 14y ago
This seems to do what Sparkleshare does, except Sparkleshare uses Github - http://sparkleshare.org/ http://sparkleshare.org/
jt2190 14y ago
At first glance, OwnCloud seems to be similar: http://www.owncloud.org/dev/sync-clients/ http://www.owncloud.org/dev/sync-clients/ (That said, git-annex assistant looks very cool.)
- urza 14y ago
  Yes they both looks good. git-annex has all the advantages of git, but is lacking windows support, whereas ownCloud is has better multi-OS support, because thanks to Qt it runs on Win/Mac/Linux, but uses csync as synch algorithm..
  - dwiel 14y ago
    git-annex doesnt currently support windows, but changing that is on the roadmap provided on kickstarter
jblemee 14y ago
Not a new idea https://github.com/jcheype/GitBox https://github.com/jcheype/GitBox https://github.com/jblemee/GitBox-Desktop https://github.com/jblemee/GitBox-Desktop
- justjohn 14y ago
  Nothing is ever a new idea, it's all about implementation and marketing. It will be interesting to see how git-annex assistant compares to the other products linked here when it's finished.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
Johngibb 14y ago
This sounds similar in practice (not implementation) to AeroFS [1] which is a peer to peer syncing service. Just make one of your peers something cloud-based and reliable. Very interesting space! [1] https://www.aerofs.com/ https://www.aerofs.com/
rsync 14y ago
rsync.net will fully support Git-annex (it was brought to our attention a month or so ago by our friend Jason Scott). We're excited about this project.
Gustomaximus 14y ago
This is similar to the features Opera launched in 2009 http://www.opera.com/press/releases/2009/06/16/ http://www.opera.com/press/releases/2009/06/16/

174 points by urza 14y ago

dt7 14y ago

This seems quite similar to SparkleShare: http://sparkleshare.org/ http://sparkleshare.org/ Edit: Oops, SparkleShare is mentioned on the page. Looks like this will work better with larger files. He does mention that SparkleShare is a GUI and not 'just a folder', although in my experience it is 'just a folder', like Dropbox.

tomku 14y ago

Very cool, but I suspect that making it user-friendly and slick will end up being much more difficult than implementing the actual functionality was. Edit: I have another question/concern, does the implementation in Haskell mean that the end product will have a runtime dependency on GHC or the Haskell Platform?

mikeplus48 14y ago
No, ghc produces statically linked binaries by default (-dynamic if you don't like that).
- tomku 14y ago
  A quick check of the git-annex package in Ubuntu shows that you're right, no runtime Haskell dependency. I can only assume that the same will be true for the user-friendly "assistant". Thanks!
- egonschiele 14y ago
  This is true, but then those static binaries tend to be very big (50+ mb).
  - dons 14y ago
    50M!? 5 would be more likely, assuming stripping. As opposed to 5k with dyn libs.
    - joeyh 14y ago
      I'm up to 15 mb :/
ZoFreX 14y ago
Yeah, I am concerned by the plan to create a web front-end for managing files in one month, it seems... optimistic at best.
- joeyh 14y ago
  The web frontend is functional.. took 2 weeks. Yesod rules. (Still many weeks more polish and additional functionality, but kickstarter funded me for a whole year!)
  - ZoFreX 14y ago
    I would say never under-estimate the amount of time polish takes - that last 10% of tweaking tiny details always takes a long time (or as the oft-repeated saying goes, the first 90% of work takes the first 90% of time, the last 10% of work takes the other 90% of time). Good to hear progress is promising though :)

rjzzleep 14y ago

i'm not sure if git is the right thing to choose to version big binary files.

nodata 14y ago
Why? What is?
- rjzzleep 14y ago
  because your local history is bound to get really big in a short period of time? what is? well, I don't really think anything is. it works with svn and dropbox, but that doesn't mean that is a good choice either. obviously git etc. is mainly designed for text files. i've long thought about what the right way to approach this issue is. edit: will read more about annex
  - _delirium 14y ago
    Some of the commercial version-control systems handle big binaries reasonably well. That's one reason many game companies, for example, use Perforce, since it doesn't choke on piles of art assets.
tomku 14y ago
The project is based on git-annex, which is an extension that treats big binary files differently. Namely, it doesn't check in the file contents, so you don't get full-file versioning. You can find out more at http://git-annex.branchable.com/ http://git-annex.branchable.com/.
- rjzzleep 14y ago
  hm ok, looks interesting, i'll have to read more about it's internals, thanks.
- rmc 14y ago
  Technically you can use the SHA backend to git-annex, so the actual file contents can be tracked by git, giving you "full file versioning". It's just not checked into git.

rlpb 14y ago

I'd love to hear Joey's answer on this question: why Haskell?

dons 14y ago
He had said previously: Joeyh: "One (git-annex) is a large-ish, serious work, and I have been very pleased with how haskell has made it better, even though there was a learning curve (took me two weeks to write the first prototype, which I could have probably dashed off in perl in two days), and even though I have occasionally been blocked by the type system or something and had to do more work. One concrete thing I've noticed is that this is the only program where I have listed every single bug I fixed in the changelog -- because there have been so few, it's really a notable change to fix one!"
dan00 14y ago
Joey about the reusability of code: http://markmail.org/thread/nurcqm4yotgkmhbr http://markmail.org/thread/nurcqm4yotgkmhbr

BruceIV 14y ago

Maybe this is really juvenile, but does the logo look like a bladder to anyone else?

timtadh 14y ago

I didn't look closely at the kickstarter page but I use gitdocs[1] which is basically works like dropbox but syncs to a git repository. It works ok for my (light) usage. [1] https://github.com/bazaarlabs/gitdocs https://github.com/bazaarlabs/gitdocs [edit] It looks like git-annex solves the large binary blob problem with git (which I don't think gitdocs does) so maybe they could be integrated?

sciurus 14y ago

Joey blogs his progress on git-annex assistant in detail at http://git-annex.branchable.com/design/assistant/blog/ http://git-annex.branchable.com/design/assistant/blog/ Here's a post from his personal blog that hints at how he can afford to work on this project for a year on only $20,000- http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/notes_for_a_caretaker/ http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/notes_for_a_caretaker/

peterwwillis 14y ago
So apparently he lives in the woods in a solar powered shack. I guess that would keep costs down. http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/solar_day_2/ http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/solar_day_2/ http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/solar_year/ http://joeyh.name/blog/entry/solar_year/
- joeyh 14y ago
  A solar powered 3-bedroom split-level house, but yeah. ;)
icebraining 14y ago
Check once a day (especially on windy or stormy days) that the fridge is lit, by touching the black pipe sticking above it on the back. That's its chimney. What...?
- insaneirish 14y ago
  Absorption refrigerator: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_refrigerator http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_refrigerator
  - tedunangst 14y ago
    link for people using real computers. :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_refrigerator http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_refrigerator
northband 14y ago

omgmog 14y ago

This seems to do what Sparkleshare does, except Sparkleshare uses Github - http://sparkleshare.org/ http://sparkleshare.org/

jt2190 14y ago

At first glance, OwnCloud seems to be similar: http://www.owncloud.org/dev/sync-clients/ http://www.owncloud.org/dev/sync-clients/ (That said, git-annex assistant looks very cool.)

urza 14y ago
Yes they both looks good. git-annex has all the advantages of git, but is lacking windows support, whereas ownCloud is has better multi-OS support, because thanks to Qt it runs on Win/Mac/Linux, but uses csync as synch algorithm..
- dwiel 14y ago
  git-annex doesnt currently support windows, but changing that is on the roadmap provided on kickstarter

jblemee 14y ago

Not a new idea https://github.com/jcheype/GitBox https://github.com/jcheype/GitBox https://github.com/jblemee/GitBox-Desktop https://github.com/jblemee/GitBox-Desktop

justjohn 14y ago
Nothing is ever a new idea, it's all about implementation and marketing. It will be interesting to see how git-annex assistant compares to the other products linked here when it's finished.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

Johngibb 14y ago

This sounds similar in practice (not implementation) to AeroFS [1] which is a peer to peer syncing service. Just make one of your peers something cloud-based and reliable. Very interesting space! [1] https://www.aerofs.com/ https://www.aerofs.com/

rsync 14y ago

rsync.net will fully support Git-annex (it was brought to our attention a month or so ago by our friend Jason Scott). We're excited about this project.

Gustomaximus 14y ago

This is similar to the features Opera launched in 2009 http://www.opera.com/press/releases/2009/06/16/ http://www.opera.com/press/releases/2009/06/16/