What should file sharing look like in the future? How quickly can ownCloud be adapted individually? And can file sync processes be made much more efficient?
This and much more was hotly debated and explored how to make professional file sync & share even faster and more secure.
File Sharing 3.0
There has been a lot of discussion about conceptual improvements. For example, file sharing in ownCloud will be completely reworked. One idea was to simplify the creation of sharing links. Previously, separate, application-specific links had to be created for private and public sharing. This causes the number of links to increase very quickly and become confusing.
With the help of authorization tokens like at Cryptpad, for example, file shares could be controlled much more dynamically. This would also make it much easier to keep track of shared files.
A good opportunity to at the same time simplify the file sharing user interface. When sharing links becomes less complicated, the user interface becomes simpler. You can find an overview in this GitHub-issue.
What are your experiences from everyday life? Let us know and discuss with us!
Programmed an app in 60 minutes
ownCloud Apps are extensions with which you can adapt your ownCloud to your own wishes. The ownCloud marketplace offers a variety of apps for free download and are available for immediate installation. But how do I write such an app and isn’t it complicated?
Anyone with a basic knowledge of PHP can program an ownCloud app. Tom Needham, a long-time ownCloud developer and ownCloud Solution Architect, set up an ambitious challenge: Program an ownCloud app in less than 60 minutes.
The resulting Xmas app has already been installed more than 800 times.
BitTorrent and ownCloud? Can that work together?
There were also discussions about whether to use the BitTorrent protocol for sync processes if they are running on the same network. If some users in a LAN network have shared the same file with each other in ownCloud, could they share it on the same network? This frees up your Internet connection and speeds up file sharing even more.
Felix Heidecke, who came up with the idea, explains: “For a project I record 30 GB of videos regularly, which have to be synced to six people. With my ownCloud at home and a connection with only 25 Mbit Upstream, this took way too long. But if all of us could share the data with each other…”
Although the idea is still in its infancy, it shows the direction in which ownCloud could develop. This saves time and bandwidth, especially at the same workstation. In this GitHub Issue you can see what happens.
What do ownCloud developers have to say about this?
To keep the community up to date, I interviewed some ownClouders during the Open Engineering Week.
Jörn has been a developer at ownCloud for years. Since 2012, he has also been working for ownCloud, taking care of the most complex problems we can find.
In this video, he tells us a lot about the challenges that haunt him most, what responsibility software developers have in his eyes, and whether he has the feeling of making the world a better or worse place.
Noelia is one of ownCloud’s most capable developers – she wrote most of the ownCloud iOS app, and like everyone else is committed to making open source software even better.
She told me how much they talked about new concepts and development processes in the iOS app this week. What is the point of sitting down and reflecting on your work?
Dominik works remote for ownCloud and helps to develop the desktop client. He takes care of everything that arises – for example, desktop client GUI testing.
I asked him what it’s like to work remote at ownCloud. How simple is it and what are the advantages and disadvantages? If you are interested in how remote working works at ownCloud, check out the interview:
Do you want to be part of it and contribute to ownCloud?
Give us a shout! Discuss how best to implement BitTorrent in the LAN, or what sharing of the future should look like! The more perspectives you hear about such a topic, the better. Ask critical questions and get involved!
If you’d rather start right away, write your ownCloud App! To learn what you need to know, our documentation is a good start.
To keep up to date with what’s happening at ownCloud, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.
Apart from that you might see yourself next year at the next Open Engineering Week or the ownCloud Conference! Subscribe to this newsletter to not miss anything:
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