
The decentralized WeTransfer - alexsicart
https://github.com/alexsicart/Decentralized-Cloud
======
gediminas_
So the server which hosts the application stores the file I upload, right? As
I recall web implementation of js-ipfs isn't ready yet. This project could
potentially be much more useful when js-ipfs is mature enough.

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ar0
Huh. Does this tool encrypt your files before sending them? If it is like
“WeTransfer”, you would expect your files to be available only to people who
know the private sharing link.

However, my understanding is that IPFS will publish the file hash to adjacent
notes, so unless they are encrypted people can listen for your provider
records and look at your (presumably privately shared) files:
[https://discuss.ipfs.io/t/is-it-possible-to-store-private-
ob...](https://discuss.ipfs.io/t/is-it-possible-to-store-private-objects-in-
ipfs-without-encrypting-them/460/2)

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marmalade92
has anyone thought that I dont want to store other people's files. that I dont
want to store my files on someone else's computer? Decentralized is neat until
1 virus spreads in one second. beef it up then roll it out.

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ape4
At least, I like the name - IPFS (the InterPlanetary File System)

~~~
gvx
Note that the submission is not about IPFS itself
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InterPlanetary_File_System](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InterPlanetary_File_System)),
but about Decentralized Cloud, which is a project that is built on top of
IPSF.

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lucideer
This HN title needs revision.

Otherwise, great link; nice looking project.

~~~
grzm
Suggestion: "Decentralized-Cloud IPFS file transfer"

~~~
alexsicart
Good one

~~~
grzm
If you're no longer able to edit the submission title yourself, you can
contact the mods via the Contact link in the footer and have them change it
for you.

~~~
alexsicart
Okay thanks a lot :)

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highmastdon
Bittorrent protocol is decentralized wetransfer right?

~~~
xwvvvvwx
It would not be inaccurate to consider IPFS as an evolution of the Bittorrent
protocol.

~~~
alexsicart
Very different protocols!

~~~
mkl
From the primary IPFS paper [1], which mentions "torrent" 26 times:

"In IPFS, data distribution happens by exchanging blocks with peers using a
BitTorrent inspired protocol"

[1] [https://github.com/ipfs/ipfs/tree/master/papers/ipfs-
cap2pfs](https://github.com/ipfs/ipfs/tree/master/papers/ipfs-cap2pfs)

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omarchowdhury
This is the problem I see with decentralized projects.

The user experience here, is essentially the same as WeTransfer. The only
difference is the underlying technologies.

Now, one would have to either blindly trust that the infrastructure is truly
decentralized, or have the time and necessary skills to audit the code.

And then they'd have to trust that web server is actually hooking up to the
code that was just audited!

What this means is, "decentralized" projects still require a level of trust,
even on the behalf of people who understand what decentralization means.

Next is the problem of the "masses". They already are using WeTransfer, or
Dropbox for that matter. Why should they switch to this? Because it's
decentralized? Now you have to explain to them what that means and why that's
beneficial to them, and if you're successful there, they still have to: trust
the code (and they only can do that by understanding it) and trust that you're
actually deploying that code on your live interface.

Thus, the decentralization community has got a marketing problem. Fortunately
for Bitcoin they've got and continue to have massive amounts of free press,
press which does not even actually highlight the decentralized aspect of
Bitcoin, just the price action. There is no press movement to help catapult
"decentralized infrastructure."

I'm just saying, decentralized projects currently only seem to appeal to
people who are interested in decentralization. There needs to be a way to move
pass this hurdle if there's going to be the much sought after "mass adoption."

The average person doesn't care how something works, they just care that it
_does work_. And plenty solutions _already work for them_.

I just hope in the end, we aren't just tinkering for the sake of tinkering.

~~~
alexsicart
I believe we should build distributed projects, seems equally to products
already people love, but using great tech as ipfs, to have permanent and
unlimited files.

~~~
transitorykris
Large, unlimited, and permanent files sounds great to the average person. One
nitpick I have with the IPFS crowd is the use of the word 'permanent'. They
know exactly what it means, but the connotation for the average person is
incorrect (persistent data for the latter, permanent address for the former).
The marketing problems run deep.

------
monokh
I'm trying to figure out how this would be decentralised. As far as I
understand, merely hosting something on IPFS doesn't make it decentralised if
there is only one node.

\- Where is my file hosted when I receive it?

\- Has your server pinned and seeding that file?

\- Is there a distributed set of nodes that also host it?

~~~
mtgx
> As far as I understand, merely hosting something on IPFS doesn't make it
> decentralised if there is only one node.

Doesn't that apply to torrents, too? If 2 or more people don't own (and share)
the exact same content, then of course it's not decentralized.

~~~
monokh
Sure, I guess the difference is, torrents have an inherent mechanism of
becoming distributed. Once someone else has a whole/part of the file, they
begin seeding immediately (unless stopped of course). In the case of this app,
I just receive a download link which is a proxy for pulling something from the
network. It would be something else, if the way to get a hold of this file
would be through an IPFS node that the user was running.

~~~
StavrosK
I'm not really sure what you mean. IPFS works just like torrents. As soon as
you receive the file, you start "seeding" it.

~~~
monokh
Yes it does. But I don't believe this app is using any actual seeding
mechanisms of IPFS from a user perspective. Which is why i'm asking about
where the nodes would be to make this distributed and decentralised.

My guess is that the server of this project uploads and "pins" this file in
IPFS, in which case it would be no different than a centralised solution. If
the server goes down, your file is unaccessible.

Also, when you use this app, you aren't doing this through an IPFS node to
then be able to seed it. You are just downloading the already hosted file
using a HTTP proxy service that can download from IPFS.

~~~
StavrosK
> But I don't believe this app is using any actual seeding mechanisms of IPFS
> from a user perspective

I'm not sure what you mean here. Any user can "seed" any IPFS file they want,
they don't need anything from this service.

> in which case it would be no different than a centralised solution

A distributed solution with N=1 isn't the same as a centralized solution. The
difference is that distributed solutions can easily increase N, but
centralized solutions can't. In this case, you can distribute the file from as
many nodes as you control, which makes this service much better than a
centralized solution.

> Also, when you use this app, you aren't doing this through an IPFS node to
> then be able to seed it

Sure, but you can use something like www.eternum.io (or just run your own IPFS
node) to fix that. If you don't want to do either, of course you won't have
any of the advantages. It's like saying "cars aren't better than couches, they
aren't much more comfortable and they don't run if you don't start the
engine".

~~~
monokh
You might be misunderstanding my position. I think IPFS is great and should be
used. But this specific project is not really attending to any problems.

It's in the core functionality of IPFS to be able to host a file and the http
proxy is available by default by IPFS. So the real problems are distributing
and decentralising the file (such as by running an IPFS node) and this project
is not making the slightest attempt at that. Without that there is little
point in using this service as it is just like any other centralised hosting
service, just so happens that the file is on IPFS.

~~~
StavrosK
Oh, I see what you mean now, that it's not much better than raw IPFS. In that
case, I might agree, although I think UX matters a lot too.

