1. For a Linux user, you can already build such a system yourself quite trivially by getting an FTP account, mounting it locally with curlftpfs, and then using SVN or CVS on the mounted filesystem. From Windows or Mac, this FTP account could be accessed through built-in software.
2. It doesn't actually replace a USB drive. Most people I know e-mail files to themselves or host them somewhere online to be able to perform presentations, but they still carry a USB drive in case there are connectivity problems. This does not solve the connectivity issue.
3. It does not seem very "viral" or income-generating. I know this is premature at this point, but without charging users for the service, is it reasonable to expect to make money off of this?
Totally understand your doubts.
I mainly made this program to solve a tiny issue that got annoying and repetitive, so I asked myself, "Can I automate this?"
1. Since I mainly use Windows (for school software to run), I cannot simply do this, considering our school blocks any 3rd part app that isn't in their whitelist.
2. Sure, it doesn't _replace_ a USB drive, but it makes it a lot easier, which can _lessen_ the use of a USB drive.
3. Again, I really just made this for myself and a couple of friends at my high school so we can share projects without too much hassle. I just wanted to share it with the world because maybe someone else has the same dumb problem, which could help them too.
It's not meant to be a business, just a tool. I'll call that a win if it saves one other person from emailing a file to themselves.
Haha. I guess I had heard the story of dropbox, why not ftp, but I guess this was the story!
I guess it is funny to me that SVN/CVS was there in 2007 since I think git wasn't even invented at the time but now new people won't even know what SVN/CVS are, I only got to know them because I wanted to download a specific folder of github and some stackoverflow comment mentioned svn
Apparently, the first version of Git was released in 2005, but I’m not sure a lot of people have heard about it before GitHub has been launched in 2008.
Wild times! (I was 10, my preferred source control system was “eh I have a backup somewhere I think”.)
I don't really understand what the difference is to syncthing (or value over syncthing, as it is very mature and also works across the Internet). You share folders and other devices are discovered locally and you decide which devices to trust and to share with.
We want this place to be welcoming and friendly, not brutal and mean to newcomers and students. I'm sure you don't want to be that kind of person, or having that kind of effect, in any case.
Can you please not post like this to HN and especially not to Show HN threads? (There are special rules for the latter: https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html.)
I'm sure your intention was to be helpful, but this reads like a putdown, and the kind of effect that putdowns can have on newcomers, students, and so on is exactly the opposite of what we would like HN to be.
That's fair. My reply was in a hurry. I should have said, "there's syncthing, but I like this&that about your project", for which I didn't have time. So, the old saying, better to stay silent than to say something that isn't very useful.
As for the Show HN rules, I've been here for so long, gues from the very beginning, that I forgot about these separate rules or missed when they were added; anyway, fair to point to them.
Can you please not be a jerk in HN comments and especially not in Show HN threads? There are special rules for Show HNs: https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html.
Keep in mind that not everyone sharing their work here is a grizzled veteran. Some are enthusiastic people learning to do something for the first time. The community here should welcome such users, not beat up on them, which is the effect that a comment like yours can all too easily have (though I'm sure this was not your intent).
We want this place to be welcoming and friendly, not brutal and mean to newcomers and students. I'm sure you don't want to be that kind of person, or having that kind of effect, in any case.
lol sure i "reinvented it" but the reason I made it in the first place is because my school's whitelist. they whitelisted certain apps (like Python 3.11, for our Comp Sci class) and i've been using that since to get around the whitelist :p
I solved this problem again recently as well. After evaluating various synchronisation methods I thought it would be a good idea to design a new methodology which doesn't reinvent the wheel. Completely out of the box thinking. It took a few days to come up with a solution which worked on paper and a couple of weeks to implement it. I call this onecomputer. What you do is uninstall all sync software from your devices and put everything other than the primary one in the cupboard. Job done. No problems with conflict resolution. No race conditions. No resource and locking issues. Fast, reliable and does not depend on any third party provider or network. It just works. No wheel reinventing - this is uninvention.
The phone here basically does IMAP (which is sync I suppose) and gets plugged into the computer and stuff copied around as required manually, which turns out to be rarely as it's not the primary device!
More seriously, I am mostly working like this now. I've had at least some data loss or reliability from every single sync solution I've tried so am practicing avoidance where possible.
I really want something to work but I can't find anything that does and I've tried all major ecosystems and syncthing etc.
its something, lets move along quietly and hope they dont notice...
also not sure why so many have a love affair with syncthing, id never heard of it but more diverse software in the world is a good thing imho. the more wheels reinvented the better, its fun!
