Re: Directory synchronization packages
On Wed, 2011-01-12 at 09:57 -0500, Gilbert Sullivan wrote:
> On 01/11/2011 06:31 PM, John A. Sullivan III wrote:
> > On Tue, 2011-01-11 at 17:37 -0500, John A. Sullivan III wrote:
> >> Hello, all. We are looking for a Lenny/Squeeze package to synchronize
> >> directories between our physical desktops and our X2Go (www.x2go.org) /
> >> Trinity (KDE3 - trinity.pearsoncomputing.net) based virtual desktops via
> >> sshfs and have had difficulty finding an acceptable package that is
> >> friendly for all levels of users to use within a GUI. Any suggestions?
> >>
> >> We noticed that there is a package for unison-gtk but have some
> >> reservations. As powerful as unison is, it is no longer maintained.
> >> The GUI seemed intuitive to a developer but not to an average office
> >> user. There was no way to browse hidden directories other than entering
> >> them by hand. So our search began especially for something that would
> >> work well on KDE3/Trinity.
>
> Finding software to synchronize desktops that is powerful enough and
> flexible enough to get synchronization done exactly the way you need it
> while still allowing non-techies to use it is a real challenge.
> Unison-gtk is the only (nearly) satisfactory FOSS solution I've found so
> far. It has required considerable effort to train some of my more
> hapless users to keep it from becoming a weapon of mass data destruction
> in their hands.
LOL
>
> As I understand it, unison-gtk is still being maintained but isn't being
> developed. I think its maintainers still act on critical bugs and
> security issues (if any are being reported) or it wouldn't still be in
> the Squeeze repos.
Yes - I should have been more specific. That is correct.
>
> <snip>>> We looked at Krusader and were very impressed but it appears to be a
> >> simple copy rather than an rsync style differential block
> >> synchronization.
I took another look at Krusader. It is SO impressive but, we traced the
packets during synchronization just hoping against hope and it is indeed
a straight file transfer - no differentials. Really disappointed
although I could see Krusader being overwhelming to some users.
> >>
> >> We look at Komparator but it is KDE4 based, has a UI that seems
> >> overwhelming to an average office user, and seems more oriented toward
> >> search and compare than sync.
>
> <snip>>>
> >> We are considering DirSyncPro. Again, there is no Debian package. It
> >> is Java based which concerns us regarding memory and CPU consumption
> >> when we are trying to squeeze as many virtual desktops onto a host as
> >> possible. It does seem to be fairly full featured and actively
> >> developed. Our packet traces show it does appear to do block level
> >> synchronization.
> >>
>
> I'm glad you reported this. I'm going to start looking at it as my
> alternative. I wonder if there will be any effort to get it into the
> Debian repos. I'm trying to stick exclusively with the office
> repositories these days.
Same with us. We've got it set up now and released for testing. We'll
see what the feedback is.
>
<snip>
>
> http://www.scootersoftware.com/
>
Thanks for the pointer.
<snip>
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