[OS X TeX] Compatibility of Lion and Snow Leopard file structures ?

[Christopher Menzel]

Am Feb 1, 2012 um 12:36 AM schrieb Chris Lott:
> On Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 2:11 PM, Christopher Menzel <cmenzel at tamu.edu> wrote:
>>> In order for Dropbox to make your files available through the web interface the encryption key *must* be stored by dropbox.
>> 
>> Well, yeah, sure; I suppose it brings come comfort about the Dropbox folks
>> to know that they store your keys out of inescapable architectural necessity,
>> but it doesn't really add to the point.
> 
> What does add to the point, from my perspective, is that I've lost
> and/or had inaccessible data on three different occasions with
> SugarSync, which is 100% of the time that I've tried using their
> service on more than two computers. Dropbox has just been "set it and
> forget it" across a half-dozen or more computers + portable devices.
> Less secure? Sure, but it's mostly theoretical and a negligible risk
> I'm willing to take--just as I drive to work every day despite the
> inherent risks of that activity--for the convenience, performance, and
> stability.
> 
> Security is always a spectrum. For most, the issue with deduplication
> as implemented by Dropbox isn't particularly relevant and is part of
> the price one pays for the convenience and "it just works" nature of
> the system.  If one is a member of the exceedingly small set where
> that really is a problem, then they clearly would want an alternate
> system. Of course, most of those folks don't need our advice on the
> matter either.
> 
> I appreciate that there is a security issue to consider with Dropbox,
> but it feels like FUD when people say that Dropbox is insecure and
> leave it at that or make the argument that another system is more
> secure (because, let's face it, no system is totally secure) without
> fairly noting that there are many other factors to consider.

I would whole-hearted agree — I assume you read my earlier messages carefully enough that your final comments here aren't directed at me. (I *did* say I was more paranoid than most. ;-) For the record, I never for a moment suggested that Dropbox is insecure; to use that word would be wildly inappropriate. Rather, I spoke only (and, I trust, fairly) about the nature of the security tradeoffs you make for Dropbox's excellent performance and reliability and, likewise, the performance tradeoffs you make for SpiderOaks superior security. That's it. As I noted at the very outset: As always when it comes to such things, YMMV.

Cheers.

-chris