hoochalaffa Posted March 23, 2016 Report Share Posted March 23, 2016 What if there were a browser plugin that took some of the Project Maelstrom tech that was for uploading and downloading via BT Sync for computer neophyte user? I had drafted a longer post but my session timed out and I lost the information... Three basic functions of the extension: View BT Sync placeholders Download individual files to Downloads Folder Upload individual files to BT Sync Folder I have found that the effort for computer illiterate people, like some of my clients, to understand BT Sync, download, install, and use is too many steps. Also, some people may not be able to install BT Sync because they are not an administrator. If I understand correctly, browser extensions may not require admin privileges. The extension could basically be a downloads manager for BT Sync links. It would make is SUPER accessible for BT Sync users to send materials to non-users with limited effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunk818 Posted March 30, 2016 Report Share Posted March 30, 2016 If ease of use matters for you, it will be easier to use existing technologies (HTTP). Use a different cloud service, or host a webserver yourself whose root is the BT Sync folder you want to share. I wouldn't be too hopeful with Maelstrom - it looks dead in the water. ZeroNet's been taking off with active development with Maelstrom has been stagnant for many months with no updates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoochalaffa Posted March 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2016 I like being challenged with ideas because if forces me to think harder. Reducing the barrier to entry and adoption cost what I am getting at. The desired process: send someone a BT link and the P2P files or folders appear in their browser's downloads folder. The reason I mention Maelstrom is because it's already a BitTorrent experiment or whatever. In Maelstrom, you just click a magnet or torrent file and the file begins streaming. Take the same idea of Maelstrom for torrent files and make it a chrome plugin. If Maelstrom handles torrent files and magnet links, why not a chrome plugin that also takes BT Sync links? When someone uses a folder link to just download the files, it removes the requirements of administrator privileges at installation, installing BT Sync, or setting preferences or learning how to use the program. If you add a second cloud platform, you remove some advantages of P2P that BT Sync brings to the table. An example: when files have to transfer between peers and to a server running OwnCloud, then download links are limited by the bandwidth of the OwnCloud server. You also have to wait until a file or folder is completely uploaded to OwnCloud before someone can begin downloading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunk818 Posted March 31, 2016 Report Share Posted March 31, 2016 Which is why I mention using a locally hosted web server. Someone's already suggested something like this in another thread... Without the need for extensions. No extensions mean better adoption so I'd put your suggestion as less desirable and feasible. The con is that http downloads work well for single files so many files or folders would not work well unless the files were zipped up either beforehand or as a streamed download (send a tar gzip as it is compressing and bundling the files). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoochalaffa Posted March 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2016 BT only works in terms of folders. I like the thought of someone being able to download sans any installation on their end, but how does the browser or receiving user resolve the download from multiple hosts? Extensions already exist, see chrome extensions. If one were to have "BT Sync Lite" embedded into it and all it does is process one-time download or upload requests. The extension gives you some of the capabilities of Maelstrom in that you could stream/download regular torrents but also lets the client download/upload. If there is a way to completely remove the need for an extension, then YES, let's talk about that instead. Where is THAT feature request thread? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunk818 Posted March 31, 2016 Report Share Posted March 31, 2016 > THAT feature request thread You already posted on there. Did you forget? > how does the browser or receiving user resolve the download from multiple hosts? You are the only peer, so multiple hosts would not be entered into the picture. Web browsers don't have native capability to download a single file from multiple hosts... Bittorrent that support webseeding can and do. You might take a look at webtorrent: https://webtorrent.io/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoochalaffa Posted March 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2016 webtorrent.io is definitely along the lines of what would be freaking awesome to have with BT Sync. I guess I imagined the initial post in that thread as requiring an extra non-bt-sync server or system. Don't need an extension if you can just get files over a javascript-esque torrent client. Bottom line, sending and requesting files without the end-user installing software would be the bomb-diggidy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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