[neumann]

We have had the same experience. I loved the idea of BTsync, but we encountered too many issues. We tested sparkleshare and lipsync too. Unfortunately, none of them dealt with conflicts and merges as they were meant to.

BTsync would often not pick up changes (using osx and linux clients), and/or overwrite new files with an older version. It also had a slow latency when a file did change. As to the open source nature of it, you can supposedly limit its access to the shared servers through configuration, but this caused more sync problems.

These tests made us appreciate the Dropbox implementation even more.

Unfortunately, we need non-cloud syncing for our data, so I wrote a complex cron/rsync/inotify hack with its own issues - but at least we know the limitations and have custom workarounds. Personally, I hope BTsync will mature and be a feasible alternative.

[aidos]

That's starting to sound like a pattern on BTSync now.

What do you mean by non-cloud syncing? Have you tried Aero? I thought about doing a inotify/unison solution - apparently unison is good at dealing with conflicts and the like.

With all these syncing tools it's the uncertainty that causes issues. You're always worried about what data is going to end up where in the edge cases. As you say - at least with a few scripts glued together you know what's happening (and how to fix it if required).

[neumann]

Non-cloud = my clumsy way of saying operating on private servers with no 3rd party storage (and ideally no connection) necessary.

Looked into Aero, but I am pushing towards an open source alternative to be used, or at least where the implementation is fully controlled/configured by us.

I agree, unison is great and I think is the way forward towards a private dropbox solution.