споделување датотеки без трговија
Images, videos, audio files, text….applications, archives….how can we share files in the digital universe? Popular services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or iCloud seem to be the “way to go” for the task. However, they ask you for many trades such as currency trade (like money), data, attention (ads and promotions), or artificial limitations in order for you to subscribe for their “pro” or “premium” accounts. You have to trade a lot with them, give them your currency, data, attention, privacy, or register with them in order to use their services.
Here’s Ana and Bubu again. They want to share files with each other. Their photos and videos, or a lot more than that. That’s all they want and the world stays between them. How can they do it?
If they would use one of those popular file sharing platforms, then Ana would have to register with one of them and trade a lot to that company, and after they approve her, Ana can upload the files to that company’s servers via the browser or a desktop/mobile app. She can, at times depending on the service, share the files with Bubu via a custom link that she has to send him via email or any other methods. Sometimes it is required that Bubu should have an account with the same company in order to get the files. This is how most people share the files. Ana goes through a multi-step process to register and trade with a company, to then upload the photos manually to their servers or download and install their desktop application, and then use a 3rd party method such as email to send a link to Bubu. Bubu may need the same desktop application or at times only a browser to receive the files (download or sync them).
On top of the many trades that they are forced to do, their files are controlled 100% by a company. If the company decides that the files are not “ok” (illegal or whatever they may call them), then the company will remove the files. The company can also see Ana’s nude photos if they want to, or Bubu’s love poems that he sends to Ana as text documents. Their file sharing is crippled with trades and completely slave to the company’s rules and “morals”. Other companies such as WeTransfer pretend to be free by letting users upload files up to X GB to their servers and share the uploads with others without users paying any money or registering an account with them. However, as you may understand by now, these are not trade-free since they are often full of ads and data mining techniques.
So, then, how can Ana share large amounts of files (perhaps unlimited) with Bubu in a trade-free way?
In essence there are two main ways one can share files online. First, the classic “upload to a server” style. And this server acts as storage system. It stores the files and the other persons can access them any time. The advantages of such a system is that the files are always available. The biggest downside is that centralizing file sharing comes with a huge responsibility and you never know who is behind these servers or what they do with your files. Also, most such services are limited in terms of storage space.
The second way is the “nodes” way. Multiple servers or people’s computers make the connection with each other, and when Ana shares something the nodes only connect her with Bubu, to then allow for a direct transfer of files between the two. The nodes should not be able to read/access any files that the two are sending.
НИВО 1: ИСКРЕН ВЕТРАНСФЕР
One simple solution is a sort of WeTransfer that is trade-free. Балон е една таква алтернатива. Софтвер со отворен код што секој може да го инсталира на свој сервер и да создаде WeTransfer без трговија. Еве се некои примери на Lufi кои едноставно ви дозволуваат да прикачувате датотеки, а потоа да ја копирате URL-то и да ја споделите со секој што сакате. Без срање. Нема реклами. Нема ископување податоци. И шифрирана, така што ниеден пример не може да го прочита тоа што го прикачувате. Покомплексно, но целосно опремено решение е NextCloud. Овој овозможува одлична контрола врз датотеките (од верзии до резервни копии или автоматска синхронизација). Меѓутоа, освен ако Ана навистина знае како да го инсталира и стартува NextCloud на својот компјутер и да го трансформира својот компјутер во мрежа, тогаш Ана е на милост и немилост на другите сервери (како во случајот со Луфи) кои можат да обезбедат бесплатна трговија (и ограничено) NextCloud инстанци. Ова може да биде многу ретко да се најде бидејќи NextCloud е повеќе од едноставна услуга за споделување датотеки и хостирање, па затоа бара голема моќ на серверот. Дури и примероците што обезбедуваат „бесплатен“ примерок на NextCloud, честопати наплаќаат за повеќе складирање или „премиум“ функции, така што тие навистина не се без трговија. Во суштина, да, постојат искрени услуги WeTransfer кои ви дозволуваат да споделувате датотеки без трговија. Но, тие се ограничени во однос на просторот за складирање.
НИВО 2: ДЕЦЕНТРАЛИЗИРАН DROPBOX
The best way to share an unlimited amount of files is to directly transfer files from one to another. Nodes do just that, by finding a bridge between Ana and Bubu. So when Ana sends a file to Bubu, the nodes connect the two. The biggest downside is that both Ana and Bubu have to be online for the files to transfer. But since we are pretty much always connected to the internet these days, maybe this is not a huge disadvantage. Considering that no one can delete any of the files you are sharing, this method is by far the most convenient. Think of this method as an offline package delivery service (like the postal service). Ana sends a package to Bubu, and the postal office or the package delivery service is simply getting the package from Ana to Bubu without opening it. That’s how it should be done. Not like Google Driver or Dropbox are doing it, by opening the package and removing any content that they deem as “wrong”. The best part of this Level 2 file-sharing is that the package delivering service doesn’t even know the size of the packages many times, or who Ana or Bubu are.
So, when it comes to file sharing the reliance on servers (centralized means) is going to be limited in terms of how many files you can share or what kinds of, even when we are talking about trade-free services. The best approach is to directly connect Ana and Bubu, not through one point, but multiple (as nodes). This way Ana can send as many nude photos and astronomy photos and videos to Bubu as she wants, and no one would be able to either sniff them or limit how many she can send.
Trade Free alternatives
Bellow we will recommend some trade-free apps for TROMjaro that allow Ana and Bubu to share files with each other. We will emphasize 4 core features for each of them:
EASE OF USE
PRIVATE
RELIABLE
DYNAMIC
L2
Syncthing is perhaps the best file-sharing application. Very easy to use, since all you have to do is to share your ID with your friend, then you are connected. The next simple step is to add a folder to your sharing list, and then share this folder with your friend. Say you create a new folder on your computer and name it “Bubu”. Add it to Syncthing and share it with your friend. Whatever you add to the “Bubu” folder will automatically be shared with your friend and copied to his/her computer. As simple as that. On top of it Syncthing can keep versions of the files, so in case you delete or change any, it will keep a backup of that.
Syncthing comes pre-installed on TROMjaro because it is very easy to use, it is private (the connections to the nodes are encrypted), it is highly reliable and very dynamic since it automatically syncs all changes to any files. It can even be used for backups. The only downside of Syncthing is that it does not support “public shares” – like sharing a “link” or something with multiple people as public. People need to connect to you one by one, in order for you to share files with them. Thus, Syncthing is geared towards private file sharing.
L2
Amule is an application that lets you access the ED2K мрежа. Тој е насочен кон споделување датотеки, канали и разговори и многу повеќе. Така, „леснотијата за користење“ не е толку голема ако сè што сакате е да споделите некои датотеки со вашите пријатели. Сепак, можете јавно да споделувате датотеки со кој било на мрежата ED2K или со секој што има клиент за мрежата. Може да биде лесно како да споделите „врска“ со вашиот пријател и тој/таа да ја отвори со Amule. Доверливоста не е толку голема и не знаеме дали врската помеѓу јазлите (серверите) е шифрирана. Но, можете да споделите колку сакате датотеки и папки со Amule и згора на тоа, тој ќе внимава на промените направени во овие папки и ќе ги ажурира автоматски (така што е динамичен).
L2
Transmission is a BitTorrent клиент. Една од најсигурните мрежи таму. За да споделите датотеки со Transmission, треба да креирате датотека „torrent“ од датотека или папка. Така, кажете дека сакате да споделите папка со Ана, ја додавате папката во Transmission и потоа треба рачно да додадете „следачи“ (јазли) на списокот. Ако не сте запознаени со ова, тогаш ќе ви биде многу тешко бидејќи ова е главната работа што треба да ја направите за вашата папка да ја „открие“ Ана. Ако успеете да го направите ова, многу е лесно да ја споделите папката или преку врска (магнет) или преку датотека (торент), и двете делуваат како тунел помеѓу вас двајца. Ана може многу лесно да го копира линкот што и го даваш, во Transmission и ќе започне преземањето.
Transmission, like all BitTorrent clients, is not dynamic. If you share a folder then that’s all you share. Any changes to the folder won’t be pushed to Ana. You will have to repeat the process with every change. Transmission is geared towards one-time-share. If you want to publicly share a non-dynamic folder with the world, BitTorrent is the best way to do it, and Transmission is a very easy to use client if you understand what trackers are and how to add them.
L2
WebTorrent is another BitTorrent client, but this one is perhaps the easiest to use of them all. Again, it does not support dynamic folders and we do not know if the connections to the nodes are encrypted, but to share a folder/file is as easy as clicking “Share Folder” or “Share File”. WebTorrent adds the BitTorrent trackers on its own so all you have to do is to share the magnet link or the torrent file with your friend(s).
L2
The DAT мрежа е нова и многу интересна мрежа. Тоа им овозможува на луѓето да се поврзат со другите на децентрализиран начин. Бидејќи е сè уште нов, не е многу сигурен и не секогаш се воспоставуваат врски. Но, кога работи, работната површина на DAT го прави исклучително лесно споделувањето и примањето датотеки, бидејќи тоа е единствената цел на оваа апликација. Ги шифрира врските помеѓу врсниците и поддржува динамични папки.
So, choose a folder to share with Ana and then send her the unique DAT url so that she can receive it with the DAT Desktop. And any changes you make to that folder, will be automatically pushed to Ana’s computer. As easy as that!
L2
BiglyBT is another BitTorrent client, but it is more complicated to use. However it offers more options. No dynamic folders, but secure and reliable. If Ana wants to use BiglyBT to share files in a more complex manner (with specific rules and such), then BiglyBT can be a good tool for that. Else, Ana is better off sharing files using other apps.
L2
RetroShare is a lot more than a file sharing application. In fact it is not meant for that, it is meant for email, chats, forums, and also file sharing. So, for the average user this may be a bit difficult to navigate if the only thing they need is to share files. It supports dynamic folders though, which is a big plus when you want to share files that you may change, or add/remove files after you have shared a folder.
RetroShare is not that reliable in establishing connections between peers so be aware of that. The fantastic part of RetroShare is that it does not rely on any well-known network. It is its own thing and it is properly-decentralized.
L2
Beaker uses the DAT Network and similar to the DAT Desktop app, it provides all of the features such as dynamic folders and encryption. It is not as easy to use as DAT Desktop because Beaker is more than a file sharing app, so it may take a bit of time to understand how to use it. However one cool thing about Beaker is that you can preview the files in Beaker directly, without downloading them. So say you share 30 videos with Bubu. Send to Bubu the Beaker (DAT) URL and Bubu can simply open that in Beaker and play any video he wants without downloading them. Beaker allows for the perfect combination of sharing something privately or publicly, and to easily access both.
Imagine you have 5.000 photos that you want to share with the world. You simply point Beaker to the folder where you have the photos stored, and then share the DAT URL with the world. Anyone with the link can view your photos with Beaker without downloading them to their computers. And, if you add or remove photos, then you don’t have to do anything, the same URL will work to display the new changes. Of course, is worth mentioning again that the DAT Network is not 100% reliable so at times the connection between users cannot be established.
L2
OnionShare uses the well-known TOR мрежа за споделување датотеки, што е проклето кул. Според тоа, споделувањето датотеки е исклучително приватно и прилично доверливо. За да го користите, е едноставно како споделување или преземање датотека/папка. Избирате папка, а потоа чекате да се „скенира“ што може да потрае многу време ако има многу датотеки во таа папка, а откако ќе се заврши, можете да ја споделите генерираната врска со секој што го користи TOR прелистувачот. Слично на апликацијата Beaker, датотеките може да се прегледуваат во прелистувачот без да се преземаат.
But, it does not support dynamic folders and Bubu needs to also install the TOR прелистувач за да ги добиете датотеките на Ана. Исто така, брзините на преземање може да бидат многу бавни преку TOR мрежата. Но, еј, тоа е уште еден начин без трговија за споделување неограничени количини на датотеки со никого!
This article will be updated from time to time to add new apps to the list.