[HN Gopher] Diode Drive - Privacy-focused distributed alternativ... ___________________________________________________________________ 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] ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2021-03-12 23:00 UTC)