BitTorrent Inc.'s experimental labs blog covering projects like BitTorrent Sync and Bleep, a decentralized private messenger.
HN links it for BitTorrent Sync as a Dropbox alternative. Commenters discuss it in the context of privacy and NSA concerns about cloud storage.
Not to be that guy, but since no one else has mentioned it: a file in Dropbox is a file shared with the NSA.
I was a happy paying Dropbox customer since 2008 but downgraded my account to the free tier a few months ago. I no longer consider Dropbox trustworthy for anything except (1) trivial files and (2) files encrypted client-side before they're put into Dropbox.
Even with the above, I had two specific use-cases that only recently did I resolve:
- 1Password Sync. Dropbox is no longer necessary here since 1Password natively supports iCloud sync across Mac and iOS.
- Arbitrary file-sharing between Mac and iOS. Dropbox is no longer necessary here ever since I've been running BTSync[0], which has worked flawlessly in my experience.
It might be time to cancel Dropbox entirely.
[0] http://labs.bittorrent.com/experiments/sync.html
TLDR:
>BitTorrent Sync’s functionality is comparable to services such as Dropbox and Skydrive, except for the fact that there’s no cloud involved. Users sync the files between their own computers and no third-party has access to it.
> It is an ideal tool for people who want to share large amounts of data between computers without going through third-party services.
>The Sync application is available for Windows, OSX, Linux and has the ability run on NAS devices through a web-interface. Readers who are interested in giving it a spin can head over to BitTorrent labs [1], where the Sync app can be downloaded.
[1]: http://labs.bittorrent.com/
Another centralized service, sadly. I've decided that whenever possible, I will seek out decentralized solutions instead.
Looking for a decentralized, peer-to-peer file sharing and synchronization solution? I've been using BitTorrent Sync as a replacement for Dropbox, and so far I've been very pleased with it. Unlimited storage, no 3rd-party servers involved, and less CPU usage and UI lag than Dropbox. Did I mention that it's free? Check it out: http://labs.bittorrent.com/experiments/sync.html
> If DropBox's sync system wasn't so simple/unobtrusive I'd use something else.
Perhaps consider using Bittorrent Sync[1] for synchronisation.
For practical purposes, it's similar to using DropBox, the key difference being that instead of syncing with DropBox in the cloud, you are syncing folders across hardware you control. The hardware could be different computers, phones, tablets etc.
[1] http://labs.bittorrent.com/experiments/sync.html
yes, apple should embrace distributed live streaming and make it really easy and google glasses or apple glasses should support it. These guys are doing it right now: http://labs.bittorrent.com/experiments/bittorrent-live.html
It has been on the drawing board for years, we are still hosting websites on single servers... slowly moving to 'clouds' (owned by single companies).. but we should really be moving to media swarms.
This might be cool in theory, but no way in HELL it's the 'easiest way in the world.' As of right now, only chrome can transfer files to chrome, and firefox to firefox.
As of now, the easiest, best, fastest, and most secure way to transfer files is by using BTSync. (http://labs.bittorrent.com/experiments/sync.html)
Create a shared folder, give out the secret or read only key, done.