Times are Changing

So, things have been happening in the iFolder project. First, Calvin has left Novell (good luck in the future!) which has meant less people to work on the team. Therefore, a big change...

The team are not rewriting iFolder client. Previously, a decision had been made to rewrite iFolder for version 3.5 (known as the 'native client'). This meant moving from C# (i.e. Mono, GTK# and Cocoa#) to C/C++ (and GTK+, Cocoa). There are many reasons why this was considered and coding even began (as Boyd posted). However, a majority decision has been made to retain the client in C# and just keep on making it better.

Simias (the essential component to iFolder) was going to be removed from the 'native client' which would have removed P2P support. But this will not happen now! We need a willing voluenterr to look at the current P2P SVN code and see what can be done. Drop along #ifolder on irc.gimp.net to help out.

You may be disappointed, you may be pleased. Whichever way, iFolder will continue to be a great product and the upcoming 3.4 release of the client and server will totally rock. Stay tuned!

Find Yourself

I've created an iFolder Frappr map so people can add themselves. I guess there will be a nucleas near Provo, Utah :-) but add yourself anyway. If you help out or just use iFolder, get yourself on there.

Branches and Trees

There seems to be a bit of confusion at the moment about the branches and trees with iFolder and what to install. Boyd has just given us a nice run down of what is happening with 3.5 but for those who don't know what 3.5 client is:

The 3.2 Branch

The current stable branch of iFolder but a bit outdated. Requires Mono and runs on all three platforms. It will only work with SimpleServer or the iFolder Enterprise Server (comes with OES).

Use if: Connecting to OES, Connecting to SimpleServer, Want to be on the safe side

The 3.4 Branch

This is the current development branch which will go stable soon (hopefully!). This has the new Tangofied look and works with the new SimiasServer. This is the recommended one but beware - it is still in development.

Use if: Connecting to SimiasServer, Connecting to OES, Want to be on the edge

The 3.5 Branch

This is the absolute bleeding edge at the moment. iFolder is currently being rewritten in C/C++ instead of C# (hence - native client). This will become stable in a few months but is in heavy development and if it works, it is sheer luck.

Use if: Developing iFolder

Now, the servers. There are several servers available for iFolder but only two you need be to know about:

SimasServer (3.5)

This is the replacement for SimpleServer and is a mixture of SimpleServer and the old Enterprise Server. It is totally open source (now libflaim is opened up!) and has a great web interface for administering your server as well as accessing your files over the internet. However, it is still in development so be careful.

Use if: Won't pay for OES, anyone who wants an iFolder server, bleeding edge

iFolder Enterprise Server (OES)

The predecessor to SimiasServer. Provides many of the same features but very expensive. The recommended solutions for 'production enviroments' or anywhere where your data matters.

Use if: You can afford it, production environment

OK - if that still made no sense, then here are some combinations that will work:

• 3.2 Client with OES Server
• 3.2 Client with SimpleServer
• 3.4 Client with OES Server
• 3.4 Client with SimiasServer (3.5)
• 3.5 Client with ??
  

New Planet iFolder Live!

The new Planet iFolder has gone lived today. Thanks Boyd for the many efforts to get it working. A small bug in PlanetPlanet prevented us from getting it working earlier but now it is fully working. This means you are seeing this blog for the first time.

Any suggestions about the blog or the planet (or if you want to give me a job!), email me. Enjoy!

Latest Builds of iFolder

If you want to be on the bleeding edge of iFolder (or just test out a new feature), then the latest builds are what you want. Every day, Eric builds the clients on OS X, Windows and Linux and the packages are available on the Forge FTP site for iFolder.

For the 3.4 branch (current development - released mid-June as final hopefully!)

http://forgeftp.novell.com/ifolder/client/3.4/current/

For the 3.5 'native client' branch (bleeding edge development - released in the future!)

http://forgeftp.novell.com/ifolder/client/3.5/current/

Running the latest will either solve bugs, produce more bugs and give you the best. In a production envrionment, always run the stable clients which can downloaded from the Wiki!

Bloging the iFolder News

Hello there! You are probally seeing this through the new Planet iFolder. With the new Tangofied icon from the 3.4 branch of the client, we decided that the PlanetPlanet needed a make over. So, some CSS/HTML coding later, we this masterpiece which I think looks pretty damn good. Hopefully, this should be live some time next week.

Now - this blog. The problem is iFolder is a lack of bodies. There are some awesome coders at Novell doing great jobs but in the midst of this, taking time out inform the community of what is happening can be difficult as they have so much to do. Therefore, me (Seb Payne) has set up this blog to allow me (and hopefully the iFolder team too) to keep in touch with the community and inform you of the latest developments. But - for tips and information from the developers, they still have their own blogs.

Here is to the new Planet iFolder and the new iFolder News blog! The first of many posts...