[HN Gopher] Diode Drive - Privacy-focused distributed alternativ...
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Diode Drive - Privacy-focused distributed alternative to
GoogleDrive and Dropbox
Author : punnerud
Score : 54 points
Date : 2021-03-12 18:34 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (diode.io)
(TXT) w3m dump (diode.io)
| corbet wrote:
| I'm sorry, but if I see "high security" followed by instructions
| to do "curl|sh", I have a hard time taking anything else
| seriously...
| [deleted]
| theon144 wrote:
| Why should I use this instead of https://syncthing.net/?
|
| I looked around the website for a while, but the model seems
| fairly similar, and I wasn't able to find any unique advantages.
| okcomputerrrr wrote:
| Syncthing - As per their website what it does is to synchronize
| files between two or more computers in real time, which are
| usually owned by you so the storage limit is the highest
| storage you have on a single computer
|
| Diode Drive - A privacy-focused alternative to Google Drive or
| Dropbox - share and collaborate without uploading to the
| cloud.you have unlimited storage and files can be shared with a
| link with anyone and yes that blockchain nonsense
| [deleted]
| [deleted]
| dominicl wrote:
| Syncthing is pretty great and for us an inspiration
| technically, but we also believe it's too difficult for the
| non-technical population. But we're targeting a reduced easy to
| use UI. We're trying to get as near as possible to the
| convenience of Dropbox/Google while being peer-2-peer and
| end-2-end encrypted.
| fs111 wrote:
| This one has more blockchain nonsense, so it is clearly better
| nikolay wrote:
| Yeah, sprinkle some bullchain in it... and money will start
| pouring in!
| dominicl wrote:
| We're using the blockchain to register unique usernames,
| drive addresses and store drive memberships (public keys) so
| there is no central database required to keep the system up
| and running. The goal is to provide the convenience of a
| centralized system, without a centralized system. That said
| we still have to improve convenience... beta as it says
| nikolay wrote:
| Not working. Getting all the time whatever I do:
| ERROR Argument Error: %!(EXTRA string=error, string=provide
| -register <name>=<address> or -lookup <name> or -account <name>
| or -unregister <name> or -transfer <name>=<new_owner> argument)
| dominicl wrote:
| You're using the Diode CLI clients, it gives direct and raw
| access to the relay network. If you want to try "Diode Drive"
| you've to get the download link above that.
| nikolay wrote:
| And what's wrong with using the CLI?
| nikolay wrote:
| And why do you require the username to be 8+ characters?!
|
| Update: Submitted an issue already:
| https://github.com/diodechain/diode_drive_feedback/issues/55
| runningmike wrote:
| Is this a prank? Privacy, security and reliability by obscurity?
| PKI is not broken but instead challenged in depth on all
| implementations. Blockchain and many other buzz words used for
| this concept stay empty as long when the source code can not be
| inspected.
| rock_artist wrote:
| This indeed is interesting. But few things I wonder as it
| mentioned as an alternative to Dropbox/Google Drive.
|
| - partial syncing/online. Is the client(s) capable of having
| files not on all devices? (Eg. My desktops with 2TB and a laptop
| with 256gb I'd like to have shallow copies until I need a file).
|
| - mobile apps. Media Auto upload. This is another thing I see
| still lacking.
|
| Would be great to know if those are coming :)
| dominicl wrote:
| Absolutely! Both items actually have come up during our alpha
| and we're going to add them. Roadmap is not up-to-date but we
| have started collecting feedback and feature requests here:
| https://github.com/diodechain/diode_drive_feedback/issues
| rock_artist wrote:
| Thanks. Really like using GitHub issues for FRs
| huhtenberg wrote:
| I'm getting a strong early 00s vibe - the time when P2P was
| getting traction and people were trying to use it this way and
| that way. Good ideas, interesting tech, but ultimately just a
| collection of solutions, frameworks and platforms in search of a
| problem.
|
| When the excitement subsided, it turned out that nobody really
| cared about things to be p2p _per se_. Nobody cared how it was
| done, only that it did what they needed. In some cases p2p was
| the answer, i.e. BitTorrent and the original Skype, in very many
| others it wasn 't and a centralized solution was simpler,
| cheaper, more reliable or more user-friendly.
|
| Diode Drive appears to be in the same spirit. As a technical
| person I appreciate the solution, but it doesn't appear to be
| solving any tangible problem in some dramatically better way that
| also maps onto a better user experience. This is based on the 8
| minute "How Diode Drive works" video behind two "Learn More"
| links.
|
| If I got it right, then the idea is that N people can come
| together as a "trusted group" and use each other as nodes in a
| storage cluster. They can also share out files from the storage
| with outsiders and these files will be delivered from one of the
| nodes in the group.
|
| If that's correct, then I'd argue that this _is_ in fact a
| solution in search of a problem, competing directly with a good
| old dedicated storage box, e.g. an on-premises NAS that is
| accessible from the Internet in some way. I can see Diode Drive
| being used as a stop-gap solution while a proper one is put in
| place, but that 's about it.
|
| But I may be missing something. I hope do. But on the surface
| this is eerie similar to the projects of the p2p glory days from
| 20 years ago.
| IlliOnato wrote:
| Well, as far s I understand it, Diode Drive "competes" with
| OneDrive and DropBox, not with on-premises NAS.
|
| There is a reason OneDrive and DropBox exist and are widely
| popular, they don't seem a "solution in search of a problem".
| As I understand it, the idea of Diode Drive is to be just as
| easy to setup and use, but without trusting Microsoft or
| Dropbox the company with your files.
|
| For individuals and small businesses not having an easy access
| to sysadmin skills, setting up (and securing!) an "on-premises
| NAS that is accessible from the Internet in some way" is a no-
| go. And having a regular file that automatically syncs is far
| more convenient than syncing files by hand, entering passwords,
| etc etc.
|
| Disclaimer: I know nothing about Diode Drive other than what I
| gleaned from their website.
| dominicl wrote:
| Hey, cofounder here, thanks for the interest. We just released
| our beta and I'm happy to answer any questions / take them to
| improve our site/docs. Here a couple of answers on questions I'm
| seeing in the comments right now:
|
| Privacy: The clients are operating peer-2-peer and their
| communication is end-2-end encrypted. Meaning you and your peers
| host the data. The relay servers if needed are never and can
| never see your data.
|
| Unlimited Storage: As it's a peer to peer system, there are no
| 3rd party servers storing any of your data. So it's limited only
| by your clients capacity
|
| Open Source: The relay network servers are open source on our
| github site. The GUI client is closed source, you pay for the
| convenience. We might open source a pure command line client in
| the future.
|
| Privacy Policy & Terms: They are linked at the bottom of the
| page: https://diode.io/privacy-policy/ & ttps://diode.io/msa/
|
| I'm happy to answer all questions on this. Keep em coming.
| throwaway1492 wrote:
| How do you sleep at night knowing what evil this will be used
| for? Edit; honest question, I personally would never provide
| such a service for exactly this reason.
| [deleted]
| hedora wrote:
| The same question can be asked of literally any useful goods
| made available for sale. Presumably you don't shop at grocery
| stores because they might feed a murderer, or allow plants to
| grow at your house because they could provide oxygen to
| criminals.
|
| The question can be turned around. How do _you_ sleep at
| night supporting centralized information services, knowing
| they're an enabling technology for despots?
| ttfxxcc wrote:
| How do you sleep at night knowing your tax dollars directly
| pay for mass murder and child rape?
| throwaway1492 wrote:
| Lol post above is 3 minutes old, account is 4 minutes old?
| Diode Drive is that you?
| moistbar wrote:
| It's telling that you didn't bother to address the other,
| better-reasoned comment calling you out.
| throwaway1492 wrote:
| Better reasoned?
|
| > The same question can be asked of literally any useful
| goods made available for sale. Presumably you don't shop
| at grocery stores because they might feed a murderer, or
| allow plants to grow at your house because they could
| provide oxygen to criminals.
|
| This is absurd, anyone who claims this is a valid
| argument is fooling themselves.
| neolog wrote:
| How does it compare to syncthing?
| LeoPanthera wrote:
| Virtually identical, as far as I can tell. Been using
| syncthing for years, it works very well.
| eslaught wrote:
| > you pay for the convenience
|
| I think this is a great business model. I also appreciate the
| willingness to open source at least some form of client, since
| that will help build trust (at least with us more technical
| users) that you're actually doing the encryption right.
|
| As a technical user though, I'd be absolutely terrified of data
| loss as an early adopter of these sorts of systems. (And note:
| it's not just about server-side data loss, it's also about all
| the bizarre ways clients can interact with the host
| OS/filesystem and the crazy number of edge cases that pop up
| there.) That's one of the big things keeping me on Dropbox: I
| know their platform is battle-tested. I wonder if there's a way
| you can provide more assurance about this?
| jimthedj655 wrote:
| I have been using this in beta form and works fairly well, early
| days but shows a lot of promise.
| hedora wrote:
| Backup story? Client side encrypted, but in the cloud would be my
| preference. As long as the cloud and my house don't fail at the
| same time, things are all good, and there's no privacy trade off.
| dominicl wrote:
| Yeah, definitely. Today you have to setup two instances at
| different locations yourself for backup. That has the advantage
| that you have full control, but it can be tedious. We would
| like to make that process simpler in the future
| dsr_ wrote:
| Things not obvious from their sitemap:
|
| - privacy policy
|
| - security policy
|
| - open source?
|
| - why anybody would trust this organization
| FractalHQ wrote:
| What? The privacy policy and GitHub are both in the footer.
| prophesi wrote:
| Plus their How It Works page is pretty informative.
|
| And I've only ever heard of Security Policies used in an
| organization/company context to ensure employees have good
| security hygiene.
| stonesweep wrote:
| Respectfully, in 5 minutes of just being a human using a
| website your questions are generally answered. Being skeptical
| is fine, but at least be honest about giving something the time
| to read it's resources - they have even have a page of useful
| pages that I found within that first 5 minutes:
| https://support.diode.io/article/wu3yct3hbn-further-reading
| theon144 wrote:
| Respectfully, I have tried, but I wasn't able to find the
| answers either. Your link, in fact, addresses none of the
| questions raised by the parent comment, the "About" page
| (https://diode.io/resources/about/) seems broken, and the
| rest is (to me) rather inscrutable crypto jargon.
| stonesweep wrote:
| Go to the link in the title, scroll down the bottom of the
| page and the Privacy link is right there, like it is on
| most website footers. The client is Go open source on
| github, the security is discussed on the Smart
| Contracts/Ethereum page and all of that network stuff.
| That's 3 out of 4 questions, the last one is an opinion.
| tomovo wrote:
| So something like Resilio? https://www.resilio.com
| FractalHQ wrote:
| Wow- free unlimited storage? How is that possible. I've never
| seen a free plan with unlimited cloud storage before. Am I
| missing something?
| [deleted]
| emayljames wrote:
| Maybe unlimited, as in you can buy yourself as many hard drives
| as you want to allocate to it?. I'm not at all sure how it
| works though.
| Saris wrote:
| The storage is all done on your own PC.
| [deleted]
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