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Manage it do what now? Copy files between computers? Like rsync? Or… like iCloud? No on that last one, having Linux require some server seems to defeat the poi

Manage it do what now? Copy files between computers? Like rsync? Or… like iCloud? No on that last one, having Linux require some server seems to defeat the point. Why not a Mac then?

bluGill 1y ago
I don't want to think about it, just login and everything is there where and as I left it. I had this in college in the early 1990's with yp and nfs. However setting that up is hard on a dedicated network. Getting it to work with a laptop which might not even be connected to a network (as happened to me last night on amtrak in the middle of nowhere, North Dakota)
- yjftsjthsd-h 1y ago
  Okay, but systemd can't teleport data. This could let you carry your home directory on a thumbdrive or such, but it's not a synchronization daemon. It kinda sounds like you just want syncthing or the like?
  - bluGill 1y ago
    Roaming home directories are a goal of this project. It can work via home on a usb stick. I'm not sure how/if it works with network shares and usb both - something I want as I have several computers on my desk and lahtops I use for travel.
  - strawhatguy 1y ago
    I remember the systemd folks talking about this thumb drive portability of your homedir . Seems very niche. Is that the only advantage of homed?
    - yjftsjthsd-h 1y ago
      It would also work over NFS, which could have value. My interest is actually in the opposite direction; I want a single machine with all home directories on its own internal hard disk, but where each user encrypts their home directory separately. That's doable other ways, but homed could be a nice way to do it that works out of the box.
- whartung 1y ago
  Yea I’ve been curious about this. As mentioned, back in the day, you’d connect to a terminal server which would connect you to a random host. You’d login to that host (using a shared credential managed by yellow pages, maybe — this was pre-LDAP). Once logged in, something like mountd would mount your home directory from the NFS server and off you go. Not a lot of these kinds of systems out there today. Curious how a modern one would be managed and secured.
  - appease7727 1y ago
    I've been digging into this for years and it seems the consensus is simply RDP of some flavor. Mainly VNC derivatives and NX. NoMachine ticks all the boxes, it can manage spawning shells and passing audio and files. But I dunno, I just don't like it that much. It's not at all the same kind of magic that X forwarding is.
    - bluGill 1y ago
      We had those terminal servers, but also full work stations that you logged into directly. x forwarding is magic when you can share/ use an expensive/powerful computer but most of the time the local computer is fast and cheap (these days a modern destop run circles around a then supercomputer)
  - immibis 1y ago
    Well, we had this at university. I think it's just running some protocol to sync user database (yp/nis/ldap/something) and amd to automount home dirs. You want to mount all home dirs on first access, not just who's logged in, unless you want to prevent people sharing files by Unix file permissions. Or mount the whole of /home, but then it has to go through one server.

Manage it do what now? Copy files between computers? Like rsync? Or… like iCloud? No on that last one, having Linux require some server seems to defeat the point. Why not a Mac then?

bluGill 1y ago

I don't want to think about it, just login and everything is there where and as I left it. I had this in college in the early 1990's with yp and nfs. However setting that up is hard on a dedicated network. Getting it to work with a laptop which might not even be connected to a network (as happened to me last night on amtrak in the middle of nowhere, North Dakota)

yjftsjthsd-h 1y ago
Okay, but systemd can't teleport data. This could let you carry your home directory on a thumbdrive or such, but it's not a synchronization daemon. It kinda sounds like you just want syncthing or the like?
- bluGill 1y ago
  Roaming home directories are a goal of this project. It can work via home on a usb stick. I'm not sure how/if it works with network shares and usb both - something I want as I have several computers on my desk and lahtops I use for travel.
- strawhatguy 1y ago
  I remember the systemd folks talking about this thumb drive portability of your homedir . Seems very niche. Is that the only advantage of homed?
  - yjftsjthsd-h 1y ago
    It would also work over NFS, which could have value. My interest is actually in the opposite direction; I want a single machine with all home directories on its own internal hard disk, but where each user encrypts their home directory separately. That's doable other ways, but homed could be a nice way to do it that works out of the box.
whartung 1y ago
Yea I’ve been curious about this. As mentioned, back in the day, you’d connect to a terminal server which would connect you to a random host. You’d login to that host (using a shared credential managed by yellow pages, maybe — this was pre-LDAP). Once logged in, something like mountd would mount your home directory from the NFS server and off you go. Not a lot of these kinds of systems out there today. Curious how a modern one would be managed and secured.
- appease7727 1y ago
  I've been digging into this for years and it seems the consensus is simply RDP of some flavor. Mainly VNC derivatives and NX. NoMachine ticks all the boxes, it can manage spawning shells and passing audio and files. But I dunno, I just don't like it that much. It's not at all the same kind of magic that X forwarding is.
  - bluGill 1y ago
    We had those terminal servers, but also full work stations that you logged into directly. x forwarding is magic when you can share/ use an expensive/powerful computer but most of the time the local computer is fast and cheap (these days a modern destop run circles around a then supercomputer)
- immibis 1y ago
  Well, we had this at university. I think it's just running some protocol to sync user database (yp/nis/ldap/something) and amd to automount home dirs. You want to mount all home dirs on first access, not just who's logged in, unless you want to prevent people sharing files by Unix file permissions. Or mount the whole of /home, but then it has to go through one server.