I need to save space on my hard drive. Online-only files would be the perfect solution, but it still does not work on linux fedora.
When will we have this solution?
@edugsdf wrote: I need to save space on my hard drive. Smart Sync would be the perfect solution, but it still does not work on linux fedora. When will we have this solution?
I need to save space on my hard drive. Smart Sync would be the perfect solution, but it still does not work on linux fedora.
At the moment, Smart Sync is only available on Windows and Mac. Dropbox has made no announcement on its availability on Linux. They usually don't discuss timelines or upcoming features until they're reaady to announce them, so we likely won't know that it's coming until it's already here, assuming that it's coming at all.
Adding one more voice for this feature for Linux. Sitting here watching my HD run out of space. 🙄
Hi everybody,
I just setup a Linux workstation and im surprised that the "online only" feature is missing, since it is definitely a keyfeature for Linux laptops.
Would appreciate to get this feature since, this is kind of a must-have for me.
Agatha
Have also been waiting for this feature for a while. I guess the good people at Dropbox can't be bothered to communicate about it, however.
'Smart' is usually an oxymoron. Dropbox is losing its raison d'etre if it is no-longer a universal solution- simply it is now broken.
I paid for dropbox for the last 6 years. After some investigation I realized that, for linux, dropbox is just like any other cloud service. Cancelled dropbox and currently using insync+gdrive, which is like 3 times cheaper.
Indeed. There are also other (cloud) storage services with functionality similar to smart sync that work well on Linux (and also somehow cheaper) so I switched from Dropbox 6 months ago and don't regret it.
To?
Adding also my voice here. It's unbelievable that this post was one 4 years ago and no developments until now.
Hi @carp21,
Put in some web search engine (like Google) some related phrase (like "cloud storage" - you can play with different words, of course) and I'm sure you will find different cloud services providing such features (features that Dropbox refuses provide). 😉 Here I'm just trying to avoid advertise one or other. Of course don't expect the first one to cover your expectations (not all are different than Dropbox). Just evaluate them patiently.
Hope this helps.
I'm running a laptop at home with Ubuntu as I need to use Linux for some project work and I can't believe this post is 4 years old and is still not fixed.
My dropbox has 3TB on it so how am I meant to sync all of that......
Yes I understand I can use 'selective sync' but I want to see all the folders and files and then only be able to access ones which I choose on the fly.
I heard google + that app as one solution. Does anyone no if NextCloud can offer this feature on Dropbox as I feel like I am paying too much as it is for a 3-user Pro version....
@kim b.14 wrote:What is a headless setup,?
It's setup without Graphical User Interface (GUI) - without head 😁
Dropbox application is the same actually and can work in both modes. When GUI comes up on application launch, it's used, otherwise GUI is ignored.
So your saying smart sync works as it is but only through Terminal and not through the GUI ?
Do you need to permenantly disable the Dropbox GUI for this to work?
Where you see it? 🧐 Who told you this? Those things are completely unrelated! I just gave to you answer to your question; don't imply anything else.
@tonyb4 wrote: So your saying smart sync works as it is but only through Terminal and not through the GUI ? ...
...
On your last question - NO!
@tonyb4 wrote: ...Do you need to permenantly disable the Dropbox GUI for this to work?
There is no way to do it on your own, in spite it's meaningless! The application does it automatically, as I noted before.
You may find this reference https://smallbusiness.chron.com/headless-linux-33715.html helpful in regards to the expression `headless` in a Linux context.
The thread is specifically about 'smart sync'.
What are you talking about then and why bother?
@GrahamLees
Thanks for that but I dont think he's describing that to be honest as it doesn't make any sense in his response to "what is a headless setup"
Sorry, my bad.
I should have referenced @kim b.14 with the headless reference https://smallbusiness.chron.com/headless-linux-33715.html in answer to the question posed " What is a headless setup,?"
@lformaggia
Do you still have the dropbox app installed for the files/folder you are syncing, and then use rclone mounted to your dropbox files that you don't want to sync ?
or do you use rclone for everything now?
After researching rclone for a bit, it will mount your whole dropbox (or a selection) into a folder within your Linux system that you can then browse the files locally through the home directory. The same as if the files were on a USB or external drive....
However, when it comes to working with these files, i'm assuming you can't open them directly from the remote dropbox folder? In practice what you have to do is copy them directly to a directory on your own hard drive, make any changes that you need and save them. Then copy/paste back the file back to the remote rclone directory, and then it will override the file on your dropbox and sync it for any other people also using it.....
Is this correct and a practical arrangement for sharing/editing/updating files on your dropbox when you have multiple team members, using multiple operating systems?
I cancelled my paid Dropbox plan when I realised that I wouldn't actually be able to use the space on Dropbox, because it will fill up my laptop's disk.
For anyone brave enough, I believe this is the source code, so you could try hacking that to add the "Smart Sync" feature:
https://github.com/dropbox/nautilus-dropbox
Alternatively, users may try using rclone with Docker (or any remote storage provider) to get similar behaviour, albeit without a UI:https://ostechnix.com/mount-dropbox-using-rclone-in-linux/
There are of course plenty of alternatives around now. I wonder if gitfs + git-sparse-checkout could work...
rclone has a UI, or rather, it works with the file manager such as nautilus.
Yes exactly. So can someone explain exactly how you would rclone/through the file manager with Dropbox? I'm assuming you cant open/edit files and then save them directly from the rclone/dropbox directory and instead you need to copy the file to locate directory, edit/save it, and then copy and overwrite back to the rclone/dropbox location so it syncs again. Is this correct or can you open/edit/save the file directly with rclone???
I'm also on my way out of Dropbox because of this (really bad overall Linux support). This is my final year on a paid Dropbox plan (after a decade). I won't renew. There are both other cloud storage options these days that are both more affordable and have better Linux support.
@joeytwiddle wrote: ...For anyone brave enough, I believe this is the source code, so you could try hacking that to add the "Smart Sync" feature:https://github.com/dropbox/nautilus-dropbox...
@joeytwiddle, It's not matter of "brave enough". 🙂 The sources, you posted, are about Nautilus' plugin, not any Dropbox application sources! You cannot add there any application feature (including "Smart Sync" eventually) unfortunately, but only add/change how existing Dropbox features look like in Nautilus. Those are different things. 🤷
Extremely frustrating that this hasn't been added. Will quit dropbox.
I proceed to cancel my subscription to Dropbox at the moment because they are not listening to their community and don't care about Linux
Even the free version? seems too much like throwing the baby out with the bathwater to me.
What's a great alternative with unlimited storage for 600 per year and Mac and Linux support?
