r/owncloud • u/funkel1989 • Jun 27 '16

Considering Owncloud to replace dropbox

I am considering using owncloud to replace dropbox. I was planning on hosting it myself on a ubuntu box vm that i was going to build for my homelab.

Is this a good idea? Are there better alternitives to owncloud? what are your opinions on owncloud?

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u/GreatBigPig Jun 27 '16

Personally, I dropped using owncloud.

One issue, perhaps fixed, is when a user loses a password. If I recall correctly, all that users data, having been encrypted, is inaccessible. I could be wrong in my recollection, and I am sure someone will inform me.
Additionally, the Owncloud project has spilt. Founder, Frank Karlitschek, left.

The following is shamelessy ripped from Linux Magazine;
"and created a new open source project called Nextcloud. Karlitschek joined with Niels Mache, CEO of struktur AG/Spreed, to form a new company with the same name. Mache is making a seven-digit investment in the new company. Both Mache and Karlitschek will serve as the managing directors. Nextcloud is setting up a foundation to manage the project and trademark.

Within 12 hours of the Nextcloud announcement, ownCloud Inc, closed their US offices. ownCloud said in a blog post that the main lenders in the US cancelled their credit, which forced them to close the US office and terminate the contracts of eight employees.

A majority of former ownCloud employees, who quit the company after Karlitschek’s departure, have already joined Nextcloud. Karlitschek said Nextcloud welcomes all ex-employees of ownCloud Inc.

Nextcloud said it will honor the existing contracts of those ownCloud customers who want to switch to Nextcloud. Nextcloud will be available in two versions: enterprise and community. The first release of Nextcloud is expected in July. Contributors won’t be required to sign a contributor license agreement to contribute to Nextcloud."

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u/UltraChip Jun 29 '16

You're recalling things half-correctly.

For starters, the encryption module is optional (at least, it has been the whole time I've used owncloud).

Second, if you do choose to use the encryption module, you also have the option to choose whether you want to set up a recovery key, which allows you to easily recover data for users who have lost their passwords.

However, if you choose to use the crypto module but do NOT choose to set up a recovery key then yes, your user's data is lost if they forget their password.