Easier configuration and working databases

Maybe it's just because ownCloud is a new project so there are a lot of basic tasks that still need to be done, but every morning I wake up and there have been some pretty major changes made during the night.

This morning I found a preliminary configuration dialog, much better than setting it by hand, as well as instructions on how to create the databases necessary so now my log is working!

Obligatory screenshot of the configuration dialog:

Here's another shot of the log. At first I thought it only logged when people signed in and out but then downloaded a file and that showed up, too. I think the existence of a read event in the log implies that a write event is coming (or is already there and I haven't found it yet).

For my next entry I think I'll make a screenshot tour of installing ownCloud from scratch. Now that it has a configuration dialog it's a lot easier to get it running. Plus, even if it is still in beta it's already becoming incredibly useful for me. Access to an arbitrary set of files from anywhere changes how I do things. If I know I'm going to want to show somebody something there's almost always a computer handy and this is much more convenient than thumb drives or searching google for that link I like. I'm sure it'll only get easier when sharing is implemented directly within ownCloud.

Until next time!

P.S. Maybe this is getting old but it's always useful for me to see when reading about non-final code: No matter how polished it looks, it's still in beta and, by definition, not ready for production use. As soon as it is ready, I'll be the first to let you know :-)

ownCloud features + screenshots

A couple of days ago Frank released the first beta of ownCloud and I've been playing with it almost continually since then. For those who haven't read Franks blog entry (which is well worth reading) ownCloud is a set of server scripts for personal storage (among other things) and hopes to implement an open source cloud for everybody to take advantage of. If that doesn't make sense, wait for the screenshots :-) New features are planned (and you can see exactly what those features are at ownCloud.org.)

Now for the fun part: First, keep in mind this major caveat: This is software that has not been released, is not feature complete or bug free or ready at all for general use. But isn't it fun to see what the future might hold?

I installed ownCloud on my server at home, put some files in it and then accessed it from as many computers as possible. On linux:

That's my ownCloud server, mounted via WebDAV and being used to store and access files. That alone was pretty cool in my book.

Next I went to a nearby mac and tried to see how difficult it was to access it from there. The answer: not very. Here's another screenshot:

It appears just like any other file system, to the point where I tested out setting iTunes to use it as my media library. It worked, albeit with a few kinks. The last screenshot I have for today is one of just the basic web interface

That's it for today but I hope to be back soon with another entry showing off some other features of ownCloud. If it looks like something you're interested in helping with, the code is available on gitorious, there's a mailing list here and at least a few people have already jumped in with patches.

Good night!