
An open source Linux client for Google Drive - g3orge
https://github.com/Grive/grive
======
zx2c4
A quick search for "google drive fuse" reveals a better approach to this...

<https://github.com/astrada/google-drive-ocamlfuse/>

<https://github.com/jcline/fuse-google-drive>

Didn't get much attention when it was posted here 267 days ago:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3887308>

~~~
VMG
What makes you think the FUSE approach is better?

~~~
hnriot
FUSE is the way to make a source look like a file system. It's the right
architecture for this.

~~~
dfc
_"Umm.

'userspace filesystem'?

The problem is right there. Always has been. People who think that userspace
filesystems are realistic for anything but toys are just misguided."_ \--LT[1]

[1] <http://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-fsdevel/msg46078.html>

~~~
notacoward
Nice appeal to authority you've got there. I'd hate to see anything happen to
it . . . like realizing that _when it comes to storage_ Linus is no expert. He
hasn't worked on non-trivial storage systems, and some of the world's largest
systems make good use of user-space filesystems like PVFS. Is Intrepid a toy?
Nope. He's simply wrong, as he usually is about storage. On to the facts.

The fact is that without being in the I/O path you can't detect and propagate
updates _as they happen_ \- even with inotify, which doesn't scale well to
very large filesystems anyway. There will always be some lag, and some
reordering. Whether those matter to you depends a lot on your specific needs,
but I for one don't like to rely on storage software that don't even try to
guarantee correct behavior and might fail me at the most inopportune moment.

FUSE is the way to get in the I/O path without having to become a kernel
developer (which I am BTW, since before Linus, since you happen to like
appeals to authority). A FUSE-based result will give better functional
guarantees _and_ better performance than a hacked rsync. Whether it might have
some disadvantages compared to kernel code isn't even the right question.
Compared to what this thread is about, FUSE actually is a better answer.

~~~
dfc
I thought that the canonical way to use pvfs was with the kernel module. Isn't
the pvfs2fuse interface an afterthought?

~~~
notacoward
The kernel module is essentially an interceptor, much like FUSE; the serious
logic is still all in user space. When I talked to the developers about four
years ago, they had considered using FUSE on several occasions but it had
never performed as well - for them - as what they had already developed
themselves.

When Linus says that user-space filesystems are just toys, he's simply wrong.
If he were to say the same thing about FUSE in particular he'd be closer to
mark, but a large part of the reason FUSE has lagged is Linus. You don't get
credit for predicting an outcome you control, in my book. It's worse than it
needs to be because Al Viro and others actively resist any changes that would
make it better. Linus, who delegated this part of the kernel to others nearly
twenty years ago, backs them up. Making the VFS layer look more exactly like
what XFS or even NFS needs is par for the course. Making the smallest
concession to what FUSE needs is verboten. I guess some folks are afraid of
losing their niche if those artificial obstacles were removed so that more
people could build filesystems without begging for keys from the gatekeepers.

------
jtanderson
I've actually been using Insynq (<https://www.insynchq.com/>) with some pretty
good success. I especially love how it handles having multiple drive accounts;
the different Apps accounts can get kinda hairy.

------
georgemcbay
I've been using grive for a few months on a few different Linux boxes,
including some running on ARM/Linux.

It works really well in my experience. Not quite as slick as the install-and-
forget-it nature of Google Drive for Win/Mac, or Dropbox for Win/Mac/Linux,
but it does what it says on the tin and I like that because it is fully FOSS I
can easily take it with me on ARM/Linux.

~~~
dfc
If you want slick, install and forget in an open source package try out git-
annex in assistant mode.

<http://git-annex.branchable.com/>

~~~
andrewflnr
I tried. I really, really tried, but I could not get it to install on Arch,
with either AUR or cabal. Dependencies were broken, wouldn't even compile.

~~~
dfc
The only thing better than joeyh's software (git-annex, moreutils, etckeeper,
etc) is the way he handles bugreports. Post a description of your troubles to
the branchable wiki.

------
mtgx
Why hasn't Google made a client for Linux yet? It's been almost a year.

~~~
ekianjo
Surprising indeed since Google's computers run on a flavored Ubuntu
distribution. It probably means they are not even using it internally :)

~~~
acchow
I can't really see people using Drive on their work desktops. As for laptops,
it seems most people at Google choose mac.

~~~
ekianjo
Why is it that you do not see people using Drive on desktops? It can be useful
in many ways.

~~~
acchow
I guess I see my work desktop as exclusively for work-related activities (plus
Facebook and HN). Whereas a work-issued laptop could be a mix of both. I
noticed a similar trend in those around me. Don't really see people organizing
their photo library on their workstations...

~~~
ekianjo
But Google Drive can be used to do real work by sharing work documents across
many email accounts, etc... It's a good collaboration tool for certain things.

------
notum
I hoped this was using the new API (<https://developers.google.com/drive/>)
and that it can be forked to Duplicity in favor of the existing google docs
api, however Gdrive is using google docs as well:
<https://developers.google.com/google-apps/documents-list/>

Still, an interesting implementation and an alternative for python-gdata.

------
samikc
We have created a project to access GDrive, Dropbox, SkyDrive and Box from web
browser. We have some plans to open up the API in the future. If you guys
think that's useful.

<https://www.addfs.com/>

------
pricees
If you are looking for a quick way to push files to your drive, I made this:
<https://github.com/pricees/google-drive-companion>

------
ggordan
This is really cool. I started writing something similar last year to get to
know Python and when Google released their official client I stopped.

------
acchow
Will this work on OS X? The mac client is horrible. My internet connection is
rendered useless while files are uploading.

------
OldSchool
Thanks for posting. This kind of stuff is why I read hacker news!

------
dustin999
Any advantages of this over Insync?

