Ubuntu One’s Online Storage Looks An Awful Lot Like Dropbox
Ubuntu One, an online file storage service from Ubuntu’s backers, could be a unique, innovative way to seamlessly integrate cloud-style computing into the most popular Linux desktop. Right now, though, it just looks like Dropbox.
That wouldn’t be such a bad thing, necessarily. We’re certainly fans of how Dropbox does one thing very well—keep a single folder synchronised with the web—and allows for a few neat other functions, too, like working as an ultimate password syncer, working with outside folders through symbolic link setups, and, perhaps best of all, working on Windows, Mac, and—take note—even surprisingly well on Linux.
And that kind of almost-any-platform power would seem to be a pretty key part of any service that flies the banner of “seamless.” Ubuntu is, by most accounts, fairly aware and respectful of the fact that its users are likely to be dual-booters with Windows or Mac on another partition. Since it plans to offer a web interface that offers access while you’re “away from your computers,” that could mean a really convenient download option for any system not running the latest release of Ubuntu (which Ubuntu One requires, at least for the time being). But downloading isn’t synchronisation, and, as Apple thinkers like Daring Fireball’s John Gruber have testified to, backing up or manually synchronising files is a chore akin to signing up for life insurance—the less time and mind space get spent on it, the more likely it is to actually get done.
So, for the Ubuntu fans who want to see their system get a fair shake (like the writer tapping this out on a Jaunty-powered laptop) let’s hope Ubuntu One is more than just a tightly integrated and single-platform synchronisation tool with 2GB of space for free users and more for paid subscribers—those, it seems, aren’t exactly rare these days. Early tester David Thomas writes that the basic offerings will get “more collaboration-focused features that will be released over the coming months,” and we hope he’s right.
In the meantime, Ubuntu 9.04 users can request an Ubuntu One invitation and see how it works for themselves. Already in? Tell us what’s unique, or just well executed, in the comments.
Ubuntu One [via David Thomas]
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
I'm not sure why I would want a few gigabytes of hosted storage. Sure, I see the utility in having access to certain files wherever I want, that's why OpenSSH Server and ddclient are the first packages I add to any new installation.
David Clark
This has promise, but I think SpiderOak is beating them to the punch. It has integrated backup, online access, syncing, sharing, AND revision tracking for roughly the same price. Plus it is cross-platform, and at least parts of it (I believe) are open source.
danep
@abhiroop: "It likes to open (and then not close) a copy of itself whenever I give myself root powers and has just stopped coming up at all (despite running in the system monitor)."
It was the sentence immediately after "Dropbox has always been problematic for me."
@KentPashoo: Ahhh, okay - because I was thinking, "Why in the world would I use this over Dropbox?"
@Gepeto: it is, dropbox is 99 a year for 50gb. But I suppose this is a new service, and there will be VERY few people who would be willing to give money to an untested backup service.
@LegoAddict: what sort of problems have you had with DB?
10$ a month for 10gigs ?
Doesn't that sound a bit insane?
@spcomputing: It's an intriguingly rhythmic/tantric typo. But a typo nonetheless ;)
What I want to know is how you got Tweetdeck working in Ubuntu?
TracyNemean
The only thing I'd want to really sync is my music, which is almost 30 GB worth. But this service still really is nice.
jquack
hmm interesting, ill give it a go if they let me in
grimdeath9740
Is the tag on this article supposed to be "Beta-Beat?" Or is this a the cool new version, kind of like "Pizza-Pizza"?
spcomputing
I use dropbox (now with 5Gb after some referals) and it works perfect in 4 ubuntu PCs (9.04 and one 8.10) and in windows. Even in an unbuntu in virtualbox in a windows XP host. Fantastic !
Canonical should buy dropbox .... and maintain the windows and mac support.
This looks like some kind of response to Windows Live Mesh.
This could be really cool, but it needs to be handled in a completely open sourced way. The client and the protocol need to be completely open, and it needs to be easy to use the "Ubuntu One" client on other servers. If a Linux distro got down the integrated cloud file system, it would be a huge boost to the whole idea, and Linux on the desktop in general.
Dropbox has always been problematic for me. It likes to open (and then not close) a copy of itself whenever I give myself root powers and has just stopped coming up at all (despite running in the system monitor).
I welcome this. I think that Canonical will do an awesome job like they do with Ubuntu. The client is GPL3 so there's nothing to stop Windows and OS X ports from being made; it's just that Canonical won't bother with it (just like Microsoft and Apple spend no/very little time making software for eachother's OSes)
Depending on what it allows you to sync it could be very nice. Say I could tell it to sync all my config files hidden in my /home directory between computers. That would mean my settings would always be exactly the same, which would be excellent.
This is just the start of something though, and we'll see where it goes.
LegoAddict
You forgot one important thing. This is a Dropbox clone NOW, but in the future it will evolve to a platform of different web services. Read more about this here: http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2009/public/schedule/detail/8843
KentPashoo
Unless UbuntuOne gives me more storage than dropbox, as it stands dropbox has been flawless. With the referrals I have been able to get upto 4.25gb free space. The synx works great, and I haven't had any other noticeable problems. PLus the guys supporting it are great. I'm sure UbuntuOne will improve, and have features relevant for ubuntu, but until that happens I'm quite content with Dropbox.
Just got on the waitlist....
A comment about dropbox - it works great on ubuntu and does NOT require you to be at 9.04 - for those who do not want to upgrade for whatever reason. And it cross-platform so you can get to your stuff from anywhere (including via browser).
bpuli
don't know if i will actually used it but i do like to get a piece of things which are invitation-only (which this is for the time being) so maybe i will give it a shot
banda
Hmm, I'll give it a go. Just installed Jaunty the other day on my netbook (and about six times on my wife's due to some bizarre bugginess after installs) and figure I might as well take advantage of this.
@danep: So what's better: dropbox or spideroak?
nortexoid
@Gepeto: Yeah, unless they lower the prices or come out with significant new and useful features, I don't think it'll survive.
Also, how are they going to compete with Amazon S3? Some open-source group could probably code up some friendier APIs/interfaces (to S3), and win over a significant number of potential Ubuntu One users. At $10/month/10GB, it seems to me that Ubuntu One is very vulnerable.
aj_robins
@KentPashoo: That may be, but, until someone actually implements and releases the cross-platform parts (e.g., for Mac & Windows), this is just, "meh". The world is slowly evolving to multi-platform, multi-device access: you no longer access your data from just a PC, or just a Mac, or just a linux box. You now access data using multiple devices/platforms: laptops, desktops, netbooks, MIDs, smartphones, etc., and using just a single platform (e.g., linux or windows) is a dead end.
aj_robins
@David Clark: But OpenSSH is for smart people! Many people don't fall in that category. And finding good documentation on how do it is terrible for those doing internet searches--unless they know to include ddclient in the search--which means that they know what to do anyway.
actaea
I think it's a case of anything but Microsoft. I've used them both too and I vastly prefer Live Mesh, but then I tend to spend most of my time on Windows Boxes. The ability to both sync data between Windows PCs is really cool (without having to also sync a copy to the cloud). I'm hoping that the same functionality shows up on Mac.
Rob Oakes
Just curious why everyone on Lifehacker seems to be so in love with DropBox, as opposed to say, Windows LiveSync. I've tried both, and, frankly, much preferred LiveSync, which has been working perfectly for me. I realize that DropBox works on Windows, OSX and Linux (whereas Windows LiveSync only works on Windows and OSX), but I don't see that the extra Linux capability accounting for the degree of DropBox fervor.
I'm sure that DropBox has probably another feature or two that LiveSync doesn't, but can someone please explain to me, then, why such an added feature would account for such DropBox love? So far, to me, the best I can figure is that it's a social phenomenon of sorts; it just sort of caught on for some reason (I recall there were limited invitations for accounts, or something, and that got people excited), that reason not necessarily being that it's that much better.
ohhenry1
Just tried out SpiderOak and dropbox on Jaunty and prefer the former since you can set pre-existing folders to be synced, rather than having to drop things into a created drop-box folder. One minor thing I don't like about SpiderOak is it's non-GTK interface, which actually isn't bad to look at otherwise.
nortexoid
This is great! When will canonical be releasing the source code (client and serverside) for this paid service, as per the core ubuntu philosophy? (http://www.ubuntu.com/community/ubuntustory/philosophy )
AbnerAgrippa
Encryption?
No mention of any encryption or better the method used in the article OR on the website. If you are asking to store my data (mail, files, backups, whatever) outside my home server AND don't mention encryption, F O R G E T IT.
Not interested.
TheFu
At the risk of getting banned for posting an "overly self-promotional" comment, here is my Dropbox referral link: https://www.getdropbox.com/referrals/NTI0MjEyOTk Afterall, who couldn't use more storage space in Dropbox? Thanks for playing!~
BellaPenthesilea
The source code for the entire client part of the service was released as open source around the time the first beta came out. http://launchpad.net/ubuntuone-client
OthelloMilda