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Last active October 25, 2020 15:05
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RE: Flock shutting down
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gistfile1.md

Those who have received the latest Flock update are hopefully now aware that the project is shutting down, with the final EOL date set for October 1st. It is my belief that Flock performed a function not fulfilled by any existing projects, I want to share with you the main reason for EOL so that future projects of the same kind may come about and find greater success.

WebDAV was the wrong choice

Many developers in the Free Software security/crypo/hacker/whatever-this-thing-is scene tend to complain (sometimes vehemently) when a new protocol is developed to replace an existing protocol. For example, 9 out of 10 people in the whatever-this-thing-is scene will tell you there is nothing wrong with XMPP or OTR and argue that you're anti-OSS to try and replace either, I was partially of this mindset when I decided to augment WebDAV for Flock instead of creating something new or using something modern. WebDAV came about in 1999 and it shows in every library and OSS server available today. The Remote Storage protocol seems to have realized this, I'd recommend future projects augment that instead. Choosing the wrong protocol led to unreasonable server costs, at this time Flock is nowhere near affordable.

I'm taking a break

I'm taking a break to do less of this and more of something(s) else. Developing and maintaining an app takes a serious time commitment, one which no longer benefits me as much as it used to. Thanks for the experience.

@rhodey
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rhodey commented Oct 25, 2020

I just found out about Flock today, realizing it's been shut down years ago. I just wanted to say thanks for efforts you guys put in secure and private applications. I really appreciate that a lot. Plus, I wanted to ask if there's any alternative to Flock now, after 5 years? Or any contacts app that has import/export feature as well as passphrase locking feature.

Thanks again, Best wishes!

I hope to learn more about software dev and contribute to these projects sometime soon.

Check out OwnCloud, they have Web, Android, and iOS however I know nothing about their encryption feature. I recommend installing the OwnCloud server on a RaspberryPi at your home and networking to your phone over WiFi.

http://owncloud.com/

@UsmanAhmadSaeed
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UsmanAhmadSaeed commented Oct 25, 2020 •
edited

Thanks for that rhodey. Will certainly look further into it, however on initial look, I guess it helps with sync only and not passphrase protected dialer/call log/contacts app.
I'll try to update in this thread if I find something similar to avoid the trouble for others.
Thanks again, Cheers!

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