IFolder

Last updated
iFolder
Am ifolder.png
A screenshot of iFolder, running on macOS
Developer(s) Novell
Stable release
3.8.0.3 / July 19, 2010;11 years ago (2010-07-19) [1]
Repository OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Written in C#
Operating system Linux, Windows, macOS, Solaris
Platform Mono
Type File sharing
License GPL-2.0-only
Website sourceforge.net/projects/ifolder/

iFolder is an open-source application, developed by Novell, Inc., intended to allow cross-platform file sharing across computer networks.

Contents

iFolder operates on the concept of shared folders, where a folder is marked as shared and the contents of the folder are then synchronized to other computers over a network, either directly between computers in a peer-to-peer fashion or through a server. This is intended to allow a single user to synchronize files between different computers (for example between a work computer and a home computer) or share files with other users (for example a group of people who are collaborating on a project).

The core of the iFolder is actually a project called Simias. It is Simias which actually monitors files for changes, synchronizes these changes and controls the access permissions on folders. The actual iFolder clients (including a graphical desktop client and a web client) are developed as separate programs that communicate with the Simias back-end.

History

Originally conceived and developed at PGSoft before the company was taken over by Novell in 2000, [2] [3] iFolder was announced by Novell on March 19, 2001, and released on June 29, 2001 as a software package for Windows NT/2000 and Novell NetWare 5.1 or included with the forthcoming Novell NetWare 6.0. It also included the ability to access shared files through a web browser. [4]

iFolder Professional Edition 2, announced on March 13, 2002 and released a month later, added support for Linux and Solaris and web access support for Windows CE and Palm OS. This edition was also designed to share files between millions of users in large companies, with increased reporting features for administrators. [5] In 2003 iFolder won a Codie award. [6]

On March 22, 2004, after their purchase of the Linux software companies Ximian and SUSE, Novell announced that they were releasing iFolder as an open source project under the GPL license. They also announced that the open source version of iFolder would use the Mono framework in an effort to ease development.

iFolder 3.0 was released on June 22, 2005.

On March 31, 2006, Novell announced that iFolder Enterprise Server is now Open Source.

On April 2, 2009, Novell released iFolder 3.7.2 which included a Mac client for 10.4 and 10.5 as well as a Windows Vista client. In addition to the improved client lineup this version supports SSL, LDAPGroup Support, Auto-account creation, iFolder Merge, and Enhanced web access and administration. The iFolder.com website has been completely redesigned with no references to the earlier versions. [7]

On Nov 25, 2009, Novell released iFolder 3.8 [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

Linux distribution Operating system based on the Linux kernel

A Linux distribution is an operating system made from a software collection that is based upon the Linux kernel and, often, a package management system. Linux users usually obtain their operating system by downloading one of the Linux distributions, which are available for a wide variety of systems ranging from embedded devices and personal computers to powerful supercomputers.

Security-Enhanced Linux Linux kernel security module

Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) is a Linux kernel security module that provides a mechanism for supporting access control security policies, including mandatory access controls (MAC).

GNOME Evolution

GNOME Evolution is the official personal information manager for GNOME. It has been an official part of GNOME since Evolution 2.0 was included with the GNOME 2.8 release in September 2004. It combines e-mail, address book, calendar, task list and note-taking features. Its user interface and functionality is similar to Microsoft Outlook. Evolution is free software licensed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL).

Novell 1980–2014 American multinational software and services company

Novell, Inc. was an American software and services company headquartered in Provo, Utah. Its most significant product was the multi-platform network operating system known as Novell NetWare. Under the leadership of chief executive Ray Noorda, NetWare became the dominant form of personal computer networking during the second half of the 1980s and first half of the 1990s. At its high point, NetWare had a 63 percent share of the market for network operating systems and by the early 1990s there were over half a million NetWare-based networks installed worldwide encompassing more than 50 million users. Novell technology contributed to the emergence of local area networks, which displaced the dominant mainframe computing model and changed computing worldwide. Novell became instrumental in making Utah Valley a focus for technology and software development.

NetWare is a discontinued computer network operating system developed by Novell, Inc. It initially used cooperative multitasking to run various services on a personal computer, using the IPX network protocol.

Linux adoption is the adoption of Linux computer operating systems (OS) by households, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and governments.

openSUSE Community-supported Linux distribution

openSUSE is a project that serves to promote the use of free and open-source software.

Windows Live Mesh

Windows Live Mesh is a free-to-use Internet-based file synchronization application by Microsoft designed to allow files and folders between two or more computers to be in sync with each other on Windows and Mac OS X computers or the Web via SkyDrive. Windows Live Mesh also enabled remote desktop access via the Internet.

SUSE Linux is a computer operating system developed by SUSE. It is built on top of the free and open source Linux kernel and is distributed with system and application software from other open source projects. SUSE Linux is of German origin, its name being an acronym of "Software und System-Entwicklung", and it was mainly developed in Europe. The first version appeared in early 1994, making SUSE one of the oldest existing commercial distributions. It is known for its YaST configuration tool.

Wubi (software)

Wubi is a free software Ubuntu installer, that was the official Windows-based software, from 2008 until 2013, to install Ubuntu from within Windows, to a single file within an existing Windows partition.

Wuala

Wuala was a secure online file storage, file synchronization, versioning and backup service originally developed and run by Caleido Inc. It is now part of LaCie, which is in turn owned by Seagate Technology. The service stores files in data centres that are provided by Wuala in multiple European countries. An earlier version also supported distributed storage on other users' machines, however this feature has been dropped. On 17 August 2015 Wuala announced that it was discontinuing its service and that all stored data would be deleted on 15 November 2015. Wuala recommended a rival cloud storage startup, Tresorit, as an alternative to its remaining customers.

EasyPeasy

EasyPeasy was a Linux-based operating system for netbooks. EasyPeasy was built upon Debian and Ubuntu, but was customized for low-powered computers and access to web applications. EasyPeasy is maintained as an open source project, though it does use popular web applications or proprietary software over free and open source software alternatives when the functionality offered is deemed better by its users.

Ubuntu One Cloud service operated by Canonical Ltd.

Ubuntu One is an OpenID-based single sign-on service operated by Canonical Ltd. to allow users to log onto many Canonical-owned Web sites. Until April 2014, Ubuntu One was also a file hosting service and music store that allowed users to store data "in the cloud".

Joli OS

Joli OS was an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution developed by the French company Jolicloud. Joli OS is now an open source project, with source code hosted on GitHub.

This is a list of file synchronization software. File synchronization is a process of ensuring that files in two or more locations are updated via certain rules.

GroupWise

GroupWise is a messaging and collaboration platform from Micro Focus that supports email, calendaring, personal information management, instant messaging, and document management. The GroupWise platform consists of desktop client software, which is available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, and the server software, which is supported on Windows Server and Linux.

ownCloud Free software for cloud computing

ownCloud is a suite of client–server software for creating and using file hosting services. ownCloud functionally has similarities to the widely used Dropbox. The primary functional difference between ownCloud and Dropbox is that ownCloud is primarily server software. The Server Edition of ownCloud is free and open-source, thereby allowing anyone to install and operate it without charge on their own private server.

Linspire Linux distribution

Linspire is a commercial operating system based on Debian GNU/Linux and Ubuntu and currently owned by PC/OpenSystems LLC. From 2001 to 2008, it was owned by Linspire. Inc., and from 2008 to 2017 by Xandros.

Seafile

Seafile is an open-source, cross-platform file-hosting software system. Files are stored on a central server and can be synchronized with personal computers and mobile devices through apps. Files on the Seafile server can also be accessed directly via the server's web interface. Seafile's functionality is similar to other popular file hosting services such as Dropbox and Google Drive. The primary difference between Seafile and Dropbox/Google Drive is that Seafile is a self-hosted file sharing solution for private cloud applications. In private clouds, storage space and client connection limits are determined exclusively by the users' own infrastructure and settings rather than the terms and conditions of a cloud service provider. Additionally, organizations, whose data privacy policies bar them from using public cloud services can draw on Seafile to build a file sharing system of their own.

Collabora Online Online office suite by Collabora Productivity based on LibreOffice

Collabora Online is an open source online office suite developed by Collabora Productivity, a division of Collabora. It has LibreOffice at its core. The web application allows collaborative editing of text documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.

References

  1. https://sourceforge.net/p/ifolder/mailman/ifolder-announce/
  2. "Novell Acquires PGSoft, Inc". Novell, Inc. 2000-02-22. Archived from the original on 2018-09-09. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
  3. "Tom Rolander - Serial entrepreneur and Emergent Farming co-founder" . Retrieved 2016-11-11. At PGSoft Tom Rolander was founding CEO and VP of Engineering, where he led the development of the iFolder and was acquired by Novell.
  4. Novell iFolder Gives Users 'One Net' Access to Files from Anywhere on the Net
  5. Novell iFolder Gives Users 'Anywhere Access' to Files, Across Platforms and Devices
  6. "iFolder Wins 2003 Codie Award - Novell Cool Solutions: Tip". 2003-05-08. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
  7. iFolder.com - iFolder 3.7.2 Released! Archived 2009-04-04 at the Wayback Machine
  8. iFolder.com - iFolder 3.8 Released! Archived 2009-04-04 at the Wayback Machine