Dropbox is alienating its user base and basically sucks now

[Sid]

Google Drive is free for up to 15GB of storage for personal use, and I believe you can sync to pretty much anything. You can also share and collaborate with other Google users.

The downside? You'd be feeding the Google monolith with precious data.

And how sure can one be, that other payed storage services don't do exactly the same as Google with your precious data?

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

There are only two ways to be sure:

1. Host your own cloud storage solution somewhere, e.g. Seafile or Nextcloud.
2. Encrypt anything on the client side before transmission, e.g. using Boxcryptor, which is specifically designed to work with Dropbox.

The super paranoid would combine both together: hosting the own solution and encrypt everything before transmission.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Yes well, this seems to be the new client. You can definitely see in the web based settings how many clients are doing the sync there.

Where do I look in the web-based settings to find out which clients are syncing?

ETA: I'm a bit confused now. I've poked around a bit and there seems to be a new Dropbox desktop app, which appears to be something separate from the Dropbox service. Anyway, I've now registered to receive all the latest Beta stuff and look forward to finding out what's going on!

I'll try to report back once I know more.

 

[Spirits Rising]

Or you could -Gasp! Shock! Horror!- simply not use the syncing system and upload/download your data the old fashioned way.

Gee, just imagine that!

1. Manually upload data from one machine/device
2. Go on your merry way
3. Need a file from your Dropbox? Log in on that device, manually grab the file and then log out.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Or you could -Gasp! Shock! Horror!- simply not use the syncing system and upload/download your data the old fashioned way.

Gee, just imagine that!

1. Manually upload data from one machine/device
2. Go on your merry way
3. Need a file from your Dropbox? Log in on that device, manually grab the file and then log out.

Yes, but the whole idea of synching stuff so that I don't need to remember what's on which machine, and so I can readily access all my data from any machine without tying up memory on all of them.

 

[Spirits Rising]

Yes, but the whole idea of synching stuff so that I don't need to remember what's on which machine, and so I can readily access all my data from any machine without tying up memory on all of them.

Not at all the use case I was targeting and frankly not a use case I'd ever recommend such a service for. Not without having a "hard" backup of all the data somewhere.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Of course I have a hard back-up (and some redundant precautions too) but that's not what I'm using Dropbox for.

 

[Spirits Rising]

Of course I have a hard back-up (and some redundant precautions too) but that's not what I'm using Dropbox for.

The point was that if you're going to use Dropbox (or any similar service) in the manner you've described, you had better have a backup of that data.

Shit happens and frankly I don't trust any singular source as data housing nor do I particularly trust a cloud/remote storage service to house or be continually accessible - outages and accidents (among other things) happen.

If I need access to a file on more than one system, I'll toss it on a thumb drive or similar. If its a file I'll use regularly on a mobile (such as music or an image to use in my wallpaper switcher), I'll copy it onto the MicroSD card I put in the device.

Use it how you want - I don't see the point of your described use.

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

So as long as I don't reinstall I'll continue to just get the directory sync without wasting gigabytes on new crap? Or will it drop the new interface on me in an update anyway?

The point was that if you're going to use Dropbox (or any similar service) in the manner you've described, you had better have a backup of that data.

Since it's synced to my desktop it's backed up together with my local data, and in fact every desktop is its own independent backup of Dropbox. That's *why* syncing is better than just using it as cloud storage (pronounced "clown storage").

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Use it how you want - I don't see the point of your described use.

I have a desktop in my office at work. I have a desktop at home. If I use a sync I can save a document at work, go home, and pick up where I left off. I am not required to be on campus on days that I don't have classes, so I do move back and forth be my work and home computers fairly often.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

So as long as I don't reinstall I'll continue to just get the directory sync without wasting gigabytes on new crap? Or will it drop the new interface on me in an update anyway?

Since it's synced to my desktop it's backed up together with my local data, and in fact every desktop is its own independent backup of Dropbox. That's *why* syncing is better than just using it as cloud storage (pronounced "clown storage").

Where should I be looking to see how much memory Dropbox is using? I'm looking for all these "gigabytes" of "new crap" and I'm don't seem able to find them (probably because I'm looking in the wrong place).

So, what should I be looking at and (roughly) what sort of figures should I expect to see?

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

Where should I be looking to see how much memory Dropbox is using? I'm looking for all these "gigabytes" of "new crap" and I'm don't seem able to find them (probably because I'm looking in the wrong place).

I have no idea, I don't have the new client yet (luckily). I'm just going by Gruber's article.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

I have no idea, I don't have the new client yet (luckily). I'm just going by Gruber's article.

Where should I look on an older machine that I haven't updated, and how much memory should I expect to see it use (and are we talking about space on disk or RAM?

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

I don't know anything more about it than in Gruber's article and the OP.

 

[Spirits Rising]

I have a desktop in my office at work. I have a desktop at home. If I use a sync I can save a document at work, go home, and pick up where I left off. I am not required to be on campus on days that I don't have classes, so I do move back and forth be my work and home computers fairly often.

What you just described falls under the use case I can understand needing such a sync for, provided you either do not have easy access to a thumb drive or for some reason cannot use one for such a purpose.

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

A thumb drive is about ten million and three times less convenient than sync.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

If I used a thumb drive, I would have the original file on a small potentially breakable or losable device and maybe local backup on one or two machines with different versions. A thumb drive adds potential for loss and according to the University would have to be encrypted if it contains student files. A thumb drive adds another point of failure and does do version control.

 

[Spirits Rising]

A thumb drive is about ten million and three times less convenient than sync.

And? Convenience for the sake of convenience is not a valid explanation for anything, sorry.

If I used a thumb drive, I would have the original file on a small potentially breakable or losable device and maybe local backup on one or two machines with different versions. A thumb drive adds potential for loss and according to the University would have to be encrypted if it contains student files. A thumb drive adds another point of failure and does do version control.

That potential for loss exists with Dropbox and similar services as well. In the use case you've described, Dropbox and similar services do sound like the better method, though you're complicating matters just a bit in some places. Different versions? You can either use the file on the removable drive directly or copy the file over, make your changes and copy the changed file back. The former is what you're doing anyway with the cloud storage.

Also honestly, unless the storage service you're using has some form of 2FA or similar, the University should be placing the exact same encryption stipulation on your cloud drive as they do on that thumb drive.

To put things in better perspective: I've lost remote stored data before. I had an entire Google Drive go up in digital smoke along with my original GMail/Google account. Thankfully most of the data was trivial to replace or had been otherwise backed up to other services/on more "hard" storage media. While several years back, I have also lost data from other services or otherwise lost access to the data.

 

[danielravennest]

And? Convenience for the sake of convenience is not a valid explanation for anything, sorry.

You appear not to understand consumer behavior. Why do people pay $1.99 for a soda in a fast food restaurant, when they can pay about a third as much for a 2-liter at home? Convenience. Why do they hire people to mow the grass instead of doing it themselves for much less? Same reason. I could list hundreds more examples.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

I have lost thumb drives. If I have the data on a cloud storage and synced to two desktops, I can lose any one of those and at worst I have lost a day's work. Remote stored with no local copies is putting you at the mercy of a service provider. Putting it on a flash drive is leaving yourself at the mercy of those assholes who steal people's bags on campus. Putting it in three places puts you in much less peril.

If one of those is a thumb drive, anyone who gets access to the drive can see what's on it. If you get my computer, phone, or tablet, you have more than a casual interest in stealing data to get into any of those.