5 ms·

I'm saddened to see Dropbox on the list. Did they choose to participate or is it mandatory? In any case, we've moved several projects to BTSync recently from

I'm saddened to see Dropbox on the list. Did they choose to participate or is it mandatory? In any case, we've moved several projects to BTSync recently from Dropbox (for no other reason than to free up space on Dropbox for our personal files) and have been enjoying the service. As a p2p encrypted protocol, I imagine it's much more difficult to eavesdrop on your files and would actually require a warrant to obtain. I presume that's true for AeroFS as well.

cdooh 13y ago
I've read somewhere that it's voluntary edit: read it here http://mobile.theverge.com/2013/6/6/4403868/nsa-fbi-mine-data-apple-google-facebook-microsoft-others-prism http://mobile.theverge.com/2013/6/6/4403868/nsa-fbi-mine-dat...
- mmanfrin 13y ago
  Source.
  - cdooh 13y ago
    http://mobile.theverge.com/2013/6/6/4403868/nsa-fbi-mine-data-apple-google-facebook-microsoft-others-prism http://mobile.theverge.com/2013/6/6/4403868/nsa-fbi-mine-dat...
- eli 13y ago
  The Verge is just summarizing the Washingon Post; they don't know any more than you would after having read the Post's scoop.
  - cdooh 13y ago
    would you prefer this link instead? http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-intelligence-mining-data-from-nine-us-internet-companies-in-broad-secret-program/2013/06/06/3a0c0da8-cebf-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html?hpid=z1 http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-intelligence...
    - eli 13y ago
      Yes. IMHO, information usually gets less and less accurate (though briefer and simpler) the further it travels from the source.
      - cdooh 13y ago
        Cheers, I'll be sure to keep that in mind next time
guelo 13y ago
Is there an open source dropbox-style app that I can install on my own server?
- pavs 13y ago
  Yes, Owncloud. Easy to install: http://www.slashgeek.net/2013/05/16/host-your-own-dropbox-like-cloud-backup-service-under-5-minutes/ http://www.slashgeek.net/2013/05/16/host-your-own-dropbox-li...
- fosap 13y ago
  Git and Sparkleshare offer something that is IMO much close to dropbox than owncloud.
- JoshTriplett 13y ago
  Try git-annex and git-annex-assistant; it doesn't even require a central server.
- micloud 13y ago
  Try Tonido (http://www.tonido.com http://www.tonido.com). It is not open source though.
- johnxx 13y ago
  Other people have offered some more "modern" options, but SFTP and WebDAV over SSL still work very well.
tracker1 13y ago
Thanks for pointing out BTSync. Will have to set it up on a VM and a few places I have dropbox. May well be replacing Dropbox for a lot of uses.
- XorNot 13y ago
  BTSync cannot handle conflicting changes. It will destroy data if a file is modified in both places, and will proceed to overwrite something when it propagates the update. And, if you're concerned about spying - well, it is closed source.
ISL 13y ago
Don't forget https://spideroak.com/ https://spideroak.com/ too.
- PavlovsCat 13y ago
  Here's hoping! https://spideroak.com/faq/questions/35/why_isnt_spideroak_open_source_yet_when_will_it_be/ https://spideroak.com/faq/questions/35/why_isnt_spideroak_op...
btilly 13y ago
The government's theory is that a national security letter is sufficient to get access to your data. No warrant required. And Dropbox is not allowed to tell you that it happened. And yes, they can give your data to the government. Communications to/from Dropbox are encrypted. But it is unencrypted on the back end. See http://paranoia.dubfire.net/2011/04/how-dropbox-sacrifices-user-privacy-for.html http://paranoia.dubfire.net/2011/04/how-dropbox-sacrifices-u... for how we can know that.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- colanderman 13y ago
  That proof is very confused. The ability to detect duplication in no way proves the files are unencrypted (indeed this should be obvious from the fact that there is only negligible network traffic to confirm a duplicate! The bits can't be compared if they're not transmitted.) It's the ability to serve deduplicated files that brings the service into question. Yet I wouldn't be surprised if there exists an asymmetric encryption method which permits decryption with one of several private keys – if so, secure deduplication is trivial: confirm the duplicate using a hash or comparing public-key encrypted versions; re-encrypt using both original and duplicate keys. (And let's not even forget the ability to reset a forgotten password…)
nicoritschel 13y ago
https://github.com/owncloud/core https://github.com/owncloud/core

cdooh 13y ago

I've read somewhere that it's voluntary edit: read it here http://mobile.theverge.com/2013/6/6/4403868/nsa-fbi-mine-data-apple-google-facebook-microsoft-others-prism http://mobile.theverge.com/2013/6/6/4403868/nsa-fbi-mine-dat...

mmanfrin 13y ago
Source.
- cdooh 13y ago
  http://mobile.theverge.com/2013/6/6/4403868/nsa-fbi-mine-data-apple-google-facebook-microsoft-others-prism http://mobile.theverge.com/2013/6/6/4403868/nsa-fbi-mine-dat...
eli 13y ago
The Verge is just summarizing the Washingon Post; they don't know any more than you would after having read the Post's scoop.
- cdooh 13y ago
  would you prefer this link instead? http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-intelligence-mining-data-from-nine-us-internet-companies-in-broad-secret-program/2013/06/06/3a0c0da8-cebf-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html?hpid=z1 http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-intelligence...
  - eli 13y ago
    Yes. IMHO, information usually gets less and less accurate (though briefer and simpler) the further it travels from the source.
    - cdooh 13y ago
      Cheers, I'll be sure to keep that in mind next time

guelo 13y ago

Is there an open source dropbox-style app that I can install on my own server?

pavs 13y ago
Yes, Owncloud. Easy to install: http://www.slashgeek.net/2013/05/16/host-your-own-dropbox-like-cloud-backup-service-under-5-minutes/ http://www.slashgeek.net/2013/05/16/host-your-own-dropbox-li...
fosap 13y ago
Git and Sparkleshare offer something that is IMO much close to dropbox than owncloud.
JoshTriplett 13y ago
Try git-annex and git-annex-assistant; it doesn't even require a central server.
micloud 13y ago
Try Tonido (http://www.tonido.com http://www.tonido.com). It is not open source though.
johnxx 13y ago
Other people have offered some more "modern" options, but SFTP and WebDAV over SSL still work very well.

tracker1 13y ago

Thanks for pointing out BTSync. Will have to set it up on a VM and a few places I have dropbox. May well be replacing Dropbox for a lot of uses.

XorNot 13y ago
BTSync cannot handle conflicting changes. It will destroy data if a file is modified in both places, and will proceed to overwrite something when it propagates the update. And, if you're concerned about spying - well, it is closed source.

ISL 13y ago

Don't forget https://spideroak.com/ https://spideroak.com/ too.

PavlovsCat 13y ago
Here's hoping! https://spideroak.com/faq/questions/35/why_isnt_spideroak_open_source_yet_when_will_it_be/ https://spideroak.com/faq/questions/35/why_isnt_spideroak_op...

btilly 13y ago

The government's theory is that a national security letter is sufficient to get access to your data. No warrant required. And Dropbox is not allowed to tell you that it happened. And yes, they can give your data to the government. Communications to/from Dropbox are encrypted. But it is unencrypted on the back end. See http://paranoia.dubfire.net/2011/04/how-dropbox-sacrifices-user-privacy-for.html http://paranoia.dubfire.net/2011/04/how-dropbox-sacrifices-u... for how we can know that.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
colanderman 13y ago
That proof is very confused. The ability to detect duplication in no way proves the files are unencrypted (indeed this should be obvious from the fact that there is only negligible network traffic to confirm a duplicate! The bits can't be compared if they're not transmitted.) It's the ability to serve deduplicated files that brings the service into question. Yet I wouldn't be surprised if there exists an asymmetric encryption method which permits decryption with one of several private keys – if so, secure deduplication is trivial: confirm the duplicate using a hash or comparing public-key encrypted versions; re-encrypt using both original and duplicate keys. (And let's not even forget the ability to reset a forgotten password…)

nicoritschel 13y ago

https://github.com/owncloud/core https://github.com/owncloud/core