this post was submitted on 26 Apr 2025
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Privacy

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glitr.io

im working on a p2p file transfer app. at the moment its a close-source webapp, but i hope to work towards some selfhosted options as seen on my other projects.

the storage is local-only from your browser/device. so like "the cloud", but the cloud storage capacity is made up of your devices.

ive recently updated the landing page and i hope ive got it as simple as possible to transfer a file from one device to another.

im looking for feedback on the experience.

(Note 1: its still a work in progress. if there is an issue, you can usually refresh the browser and try again)

(Note 2: it seems important to mention: this app is not libre software. This needs more consideration to see if I can align to this. For information and open-source examples of the code in action, take a look at the docs and github for decentralized chat)

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 4 days ago (6 children)

Foss or gtfo. Im not letting a black box see my files. I dont care what you claim, I have been burned before.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 5 days ago (2 children)

There ain't no trust in this game. If it isn't open source then it's pretty much dead in the water. You can't compete with OSS with closed code in this space, really. There's a few alternatives (and ones that are more mature and proven) that will always be first choices.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Absolutely. Also, it probably is in your best interest to advertise details of your cryptography. What data is shared with whom, what algorithms are used, etc.; if you're doing something more exotic / low-level, Alice-Bob diagrams can be helpful. I'm not sure what other people do but when looking at security-sensitive software, the first thing I do is look for the cryptographic setup and research it.

[–] xoron 2 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

I'm in the process of rebranding and moving domains, so the documentation links are broken. You can try the search. it seems to work reasonably well. A good place to start could be from here:

https://positive-intentions.com/docs/research/authentication#authentication-sequence

Feel free to reach out for clarity on anything.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 5 days ago (10 children)

strong title

  • not open source
  • similar to other free software but might have some difference (webrtc?)
  • what is the market for that target user (doesnt seem include lemmy audience) who needs that difference
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[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Closed source and a crowded market.

Sorry to say, but I don't think you understand the audience for this.

[–] xoron 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

If interested in how it works and to see code examples, this project is based on my beefier open-source code seen here: https://github.com/positive-intentions/chat

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

He probably means that people who want extreme privacy and would use such a tool would also not trust anything close source, even if it's based on an open source project

[–] xoron 1 points 4 days ago

I mean to draw attention to the open source code in such a case.

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 6 days ago

this app is not libre software.

useless

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I use magic wormhole for these sorts of things. There are many FOSS clients and the protocol is open. Here's my android client of choice and my Linux client of choice. There are also many options of other GUI and command line implementations.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

By the way this is a maintaned fork of your Android Client: https://github.com/iyox-studios/iyox-Wormhole

[–] xoron 1 points 4 days ago

Thanks. I hope to get to a point where I can make the experience as seamless as workhole.

To compare solutions, a key details around providing my app as a webapp, is to avoid the requirement of a client. this opens up the set of compatible platforms.

(Note: it's a common request for me, so by popular demand, i will aim to provide binaries for the major platforms.)

[–] [email protected] 46 points 6 days ago (1 children)

That sounds cool 👍 If you do decide to make it FOSS I'd be happy to try it out and give feedback.

[–] xoron 11 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Thanks!

Perhaps you'd like to give feedback on a separate but similar foss project: https://github.com/positive-intentions/chat

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago

That looks cool - thanks for the link :)

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (3 children)

If it's not open source then forget about it, it won't go anywhere. I've had that stance of all software for decades now, but in the last few years boat loads of others have caught on.

Its simple really. If the software is open source (ALL of it, servers, clients) we can all check it and all be sure it does what is advertised. If not, we have no way of knowing what you're doing, especially on the server side of things, and if we've finally collectively learned on thing, it's that we can't trust companies on the server side of things. Data WILL be used in other ways than advertised.

Since this software is supposed to be a security product, trust is paramount, and it's bot there at all. Unless this product would be open source I won't even look at it.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Cool project, but it seems to be very similar to PairDrop with the major downside of not being open-source. What would be the advantages of using this project over existing FOSS-solutions?

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 6 days ago (1 children)

So it's like croc, but closed source?

[–] xoron 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I have a weird setup with open and closed source.

I have open source examples of this code in action. If interested: https://github.com/positive-intentions/chat

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

I understand you want to make money from this, but for privately sending files, the much more mature and free open source projects will be greatly preferred. So I dont see this app going anywhere. Closed source doesn't lend itself to privacy all that well. Gl.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

From Switzerland, Sharrr, OpenSource, encrypted EE2E, no knowledge, 10GB/file, one time download. From the same author, https://scrt.link/, for share autodestructive encrypted notes.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I'm of the opinion that you should probably provide Source Code on a "Source Available" basis to people who ask and have a need to see it to audit or self-compile. The lack of "Open-ness" in your code is disturbing.

I won't comment or judge on your decision to refuse to offer this software on a Libre basis. You absolutely have the right to monetize as necessary; especially if this code is speaking to a backend infrastructure that you maintain for it. Even if all you do is aim to break even and pay for those servers.

The experience is extremely unintuitive. I couldn't get your app to work at all on my privacy enforcing browser within the confines of my privacy enforcing LAN. (Yes; I do/did enable WebRTC and the other required technologies, however they're enabled in a privacy respecting manner.) Neither of my devices would show or remain connected once added. There were no popups or information given to me by the app to troubleshoot the issue; and I'm not going to crank open a Dev Console for something that I can't contribute to anyways. If your software is going to remain closed in source; "It should just work™".

[–] xoron 1 points 4 days ago (2 children)

thanks!

im a developer im not much of an expert on licences of any kind. i created code and decided to open source it here: https://github.com/positive-intentions/chat . when i say the close source app is "based on" the open source code, i hope it doesnt undermine that it itself is a fully functional p2p messaging system (im of the opinion that all projects will always need refinement). anyone with issues about close-source code should take a look at the open-srouce version. its basically more functional but it seems too complex to maintain as open source andd thus this new project.

id like to offer the statics as a zipped folder. this is in the roadmap, but the code will be minified and obfuscated. about as opaque as possible for "source available". i dont know much on the matter, but id like to learn more about if this can be made into libre software. its hardly modifyable or studyable.

while i dont want you to "trust me bro", i am actively developing it and improving the functionality. so that static bundle will have to be build by the CI/CD and it will update along with the app. it goes without saying, the project is not mature enough to have things like security audits.

thanks! for your feedback there! ahh the connection bugs. unfortunately this is is one of the trickier bugs. im working towards fixing that asap. i have an idea of a fix, but im trying to avoid rewriting a core piece. have you tried closing the app on both devices and trying again (sorry, i know its a bit cliche).

if its not a secret, can you maybe tell me more about your LAN setup for me to set something up and try? i certainly aim for it to "just work".

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Network is standard double NAT grade B. [ISP <-> Router <-> Firewall <-> Client] with all necessary port forwards in place (TCP/UDP 1025-65535 to Firewall). Firewall is standard pfSense CE; and will forward invisibly and does automatically perform necessary UPnP and port forwarding as detected. STUN may be necessary but does function and establish the route(s) and the ports your application selected would ordinarily be invisibly NAT'ed quickly by the firewall as long as the packets are solicited. ICE Candidates udp <Public IPv4>:65359 srflx udp <Public IPv6>:65363 srflx udp [<Public IPv6 /64 issued by ISP>]:54597 srflx udp [<Public IPv6 /64 issued by ISP>]:58798 srflx Error: No active TCP candidates were found

To my knowledge your application does not appear to opinion or declare if it uses STUN. (Perhaps it should, there are valid reasons to offer STUN or not offer STUN). The application provides no meaningful errors so I can't tell what might need adjusted or allowed network-wise.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

Obfuscated code is not "Source Available". You will need to provide the code without obfuscation; though I don't personally blame you if you're choosy about what reasons you will release the source for.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 days ago (1 children)

How is this different than FTP?

[–] xoron 3 points 6 days ago

This is using the WebRTC protocol. As a webapp it's immediately good to go, there isn't a need to run something like a FTP server.

Of course limitations apply like sending larger files nukes my ram... But I after it's sent, it seems to settle down.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I need this. But ffsend + encrypted zip file works most of the time. Or onionshare.

Not sure I see how this helps.

[–] xoron 1 points 4 days ago

For me, it's an achievement for it to be comparable to those tools. I aim to get to a similar feature set and make the user experience intuitive.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago

Just use OnionShare

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

This is really cool. What kind of cryptography are you using?

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