Dropbox

I have been trying to convince my collaborators to use git so that we all work on the same page; however, I have accepted the fact that not everyone wants to get that involved. For these collaborations, I have started relying on a free web-based service called Dropbox. The free version gives you a 2GB account and allows you to securely share files with others without the hassle of setting up accounts on an ftp server. There is even a client for Linux (thank you!).

On Linux, after downloading and installing the program, you just have to start the daemon:

$dropbox start -i

During the set-up process, a folder is created in your home directory called "Dropbox" and everything you put in there is automatically synced with all the other computers you have linked to the account. You can explicitly share folders with others, or place files in the "Public" subdirectory and then share the associated url.

I have started using this service as a virtual flash drive and as an alternative to emailing enormous files.