Glitr | Glitr
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glitr.io

im working on a p2p file transfer app. at the moment its a close-source webapp, but i hope to work towards some selfhosted options as seen on my other projects.

the storage is local-only from your browser/device. so like “the cloud”, but the cloud storage capacity is made up of your devices.

ive recently updated the landing page and i hope ive got it as simple as possible to transfer a file from one device to another.

im looking for feedback on the experience.

(Note 1: its still a work in progress. if there is an issue, you can usually refresh the browser and try again)

(Note 2: it seems important to mention: this app is not libre software. This needs more consideration to see if I can align to this. For information and open-source examples of the code in action, take a look at the docs and github for decentralized chat)

  • Ohh@lemmy.ml
    3·
    5 hours ago

    I need this. But ffsend + encrypted zip file works most of the time. Or onionshare.

    Not sure I see how this helps.

  • butsbutts@lemmy.ml
    8·
    9 hours ago

    strong title

    • not open source
    • similar to other free software but might have some difference (webrtc?)
    • what is the market for that target user (doesnt seem include lemmy audience) who needs that difference
    • xoron@programming.devOP
      3·
      8 hours ago

      Strong title needed for strong claims.

      Its based on open source code. https://github.com/positive-intentions/chat . I’d be happy for feedback on that too.

      Webrtc would be able to outperform all other methods for transfer speed (useful for when sending larger files)

      I’m sure there is a market for eople who want to transfer files. With a zero-installation, zero-registration, it should make it easy for people to get started.

  • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
    5·
    10 hours ago

    If it’s not open source then forget about it, it won’t go anywhere. I’ve had that stance of all software for decades now, but in the last few years boat loads of others have caught on.

    Its simple really. If the software is open source (ALL of it, servers, clients) we can all check it and all be sure it does what is advertised. If not, we have no way of knowing what you’re doing, especially on the server side of things, and if we’ve finally collectively learned on thing, it’s that we can’t trust companies on the server side of things. Data WILL be used in other ways than advertised.

    Since this software is supposed to be a security product, trust is paramount, and it’s bot there at all. Unless this product would be open source I won’t even look at it.

    • xoron@programming.devOP
      1·
      9 hours ago

      Thanks for the empassioned speech/statement!

      Perhaps you’d be interested in one of my open source projects. It’s a beefier version of the app presented in the parent post.

      https://github.com/positive-intentions/chat

      On the point about open source, it isn’t easy to pull off. I can confirm it isn’t the case that open-source be flooded with some kind of collective community review/support. It’s been an option for the chat app for a while and I’ve tried actively promoting it, it’s clear that the project is simply too complicated.

      I’m a bit disappointed in how hard I tried on the open source project for it to not get the traction I wanted. To create somthing close-source and competitive in the file-transfer space is only logical at this point.

      I’m sure with an enthusiastic speech like that, you’re doing your part for supporting the open source community. Unfortunately I couldn’t figure out how to get it to filter down to me.

  • opi@lemmy.ca
    18·
    14 hours ago

    There ain’t no trust in this game. If it isn’t open source then it’s pretty much dead in the water. You can’t compete with OSS with closed code in this space, really. There’s a few alternatives (and ones that are more mature and proven) that will always be first choices.

    • starlight_caffeine@feddit.org
      3·
      14 hours ago

      Absolutely. Also, it probably is in your best interest to advertise details of your cryptography. What data is shared with whom, what algorithms are used, etc.; if you’re doing something more exotic / low-level, Alice-Bob diagrams can be helpful. I’m not sure what other people do but when looking at security-sensitive software, the first thing I do is look for the cryptographic setup and research it.

  • nyankas@lemmy.ml
    8·
    16 hours ago

    Cool project, but it seems to be very similar to PairDrop with the major downside of not being open-source. What would be the advantages of using this project over existing FOSS-solutions?

    • xoron@programming.devOP
      2·
      15 hours ago

      Thanks!

      Here is the foss equivalent of this project: https://github.com/positive-intentions/chat

      Unfortunately, open source isn’t sustainable. I’m investigating close-source as a way to create something competitive. My plan is to try to sell it on the Play store.

      As for pairdrop, their approach to peer discovery relies on knowing the network you’re connected to. This makes it easy to find peers in cases where you use the same WiFi network. In mine I’m using WebRTC to allow connections over the internet. Peer discovery is achieved by using crypto-random IDs exchanged as a link or QR code.

      Ultimately it’s worth noting my app is a work in progress. I hope I can update the UX to make the functionality as seamless as pairdrop.

    • xoron@programming.devOP
      1·
      15 hours ago

      Nice! Can you tell me more about zero-knowledge encryption?

      In my app I’m using asymmetric encryption to exchange a symmetric encryption key (Diffie-helman). I’m curious about other approaches for P2P authentication.

      • Zerush@lemmy.ml
        2·
        9 hours ago

        it means exactly this, the server hasn’t any knowledge about your uploaded files or encrytion key. It’s very save, but not really P2P, because of an server in the middle where the files are stored until download. Real P2P is eg, Croc, which transfer files direct from one PC to the other, without any server in the middle, you send an link which pointed direct to the files in your PC. The advantage is that you have anytime full control over the files and with this no limits on filesizes, but maybe a drawback is, that downloads are only possible, when your PC is online, on the other hand, this permits also to interrupt downloads, simply going offline, (it’s FOSS)

  • Churbleyimyam@lemm.ee
    43·
    2 days ago

    That sounds cool 👍 If you do decide to make it FOSS I’d be happy to try it out and give feedback.

      • warm@kbin.earth
        1·
        47 minutes ago

        I understand you want to make money from this, but for privately sending files, the much more mature and free open source projects will be greatly preferred. So I dont see this app going anywhere. Closed source doesn’t lend itself to privacy all that well. Gl.

    • xoron@programming.devOP
      4·
      1 day ago

      This is using the WebRTC protocol. As a webapp it’s immediately good to go, there isn’t a need to run something like a FTP server.

      Of course limitations apply like sending larger files nukes my ram… But I after it’s sent, it seems to settle down.