# File sharing software for legit reasons **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 8, 2005, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/file-sharing-software-for-legit-reasons/334653 "2005-12-08T12:14:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/file-sharing-software-for-legit-reasons/334653/1 "2005-12-08T12:14:31Z")
I need to send mass quantities of photographs, all organized in their folders. If I were to do it with email, it would get ALL sorts of confusing. How can I send these files, or make them available to others? I’ve heard of Kazaa and eDonkey, but I worry about their putting spyware on my system. -Tcat ---
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/file-sharing-software-for-legit-reasons/334653/2 "2005-12-08T12:28:30Z")
Oops…wrong forum. Should be GQ. -T ---
**Author:** ![Billy\_Powell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Billy\_Powell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Powell)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/file-sharing-software-for-legit-reasons/334653/3 "2005-12-08T12:38:22Z")
How many MB/GB? Can you instruct your recipients to receive the photos within a certain period of time? A free http download service like [yousendit.com](http://yousendit.com) or similar will work for files up to 1 GB, I believe (zip/rar your photos), or you could set up a little FTP server for this purpose. At any rate, if you’re going to make a torrent, you’ll have to be online to seed it anyway, so you might as well just set up a temporary server, unless you have a lot of friends who know how to configure their routers/NAT/firewall. Sounds impractical and probably won’t work. Don’t these questions “disappear” mysteriously, when “caught”? The SDMB corporation and its administrators aren’t friendly to discussion of these newer technologies, regardless of how innocent their uses may be in practice. ---
**Author:** ![Sgt.Pepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Sgt.Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sgt.Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/file-sharing-software-for-legit-reasons/334653/4 "2005-12-08T13:14:40Z")
You can get a program to make your computer a server, then those who you wish to send the files to could download them via FTP, keeping the folder structure intact. I recommend Serv-U for the program that’ll make your computer a server, and SmartFTP is a good FTP program. A google of Serv-U show that it’s free for personal use, and if I recall correctly, Smart FTP is free for home use as well. Together it’s a handy way to send large files over the interent, while also maintaining your privacy. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/file-sharing-software-for-legit-reasons/334653/5 "2005-12-08T13:19:11Z")
I don’t see P2P as a good solution for this, I think a better one is to upload the pictures to a photo web site. I like [photos.yahoo.com](http://photos.yahoo.com), they give unlimited free space. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/file-sharing-software-for-legit-reasons/334653/6 "2005-12-08T14:56:22Z")
I’ve made a few files that was about 6 GB total if I recall. I found the best way to share it with a far distant friend was to create a torrent of it. No coordination involved. I just ran the program and sent him the torrent. Since I’m always on he just ran it when he could then e-mailed me a few days later when he got it all. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/file-sharing-software-for-legit-reasons/334653/7 "2005-12-08T15:13:37Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > I’ve made a few files that was about 6 GB total if I recall. I found the best way to share it with a far distant friend was to create a torrent of it. No coordination involved. I just ran the program and sent him the torrent. Since I’m always on he just ran it when he could then e-mailed me a few days later when he got it all. If there was only one person trying to get the file(s), bittorrent is kind of a waste (unless it’s easier to set up than an FTP server). The real advantage of bittorrent is when there’s many people trying to get one or few files at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/file-sharing-software-for-legit-reasons/334653/8 "2005-12-08T15:37:02Z")
Sometimes CD-R + FedEx is the fastest method. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/file-sharing-software-for-legit-reasons/334653/9 "2005-12-08T16:02:26Z")
I 2nd the temporary FTP idea. Most web browsers will connect to ftp servers so you could easily setup a FTP server and host your files there, then give out the address to your family/friends and tell them to use their browser to dowload the files. Of course this won’t be a good idea if you have dial-up. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/file-sharing-software-for-legit-reasons/334653/10 "2005-12-08T16:33:49Z")
How many recipients are there? And how often will they need to get the photos? If it’s a one-off event with only a few recipients, I’d suggest burning a CD or DVD and mailing it. I’d check with your ISP before running any server type software - your ISP may block the ports. Indeed, if you speak to them very nicely, they may temporarily give you or only make a modest charge for webspace to accommodate it. If you do put the photos on a publicly available server, do put them in password protected archives with decently strong encryption. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/file-sharing-software-for-legit-reasons/334653/11 "2005-12-08T16:50:35Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > I’d check with your ISP before running any server type software - your ISP may block the ports. Indeed, if you speak to them very nicely, they may temporarily give you or only make a modest charge for webspace to accommodate it. It’s also fairly easy to change the port your FTP server is on, if the default port is blocked. Of course, running an FTP server in general might be against the terms you agreed to when signed up for the service, and probably is if the port is being blocked. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/file-sharing-software-for-legit-reasons/334653/12 "2005-12-08T18:44:43Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Sometimes CD-R + FedEx is the fastest method. **scr4** is right. The bandwidth of a semitruck can be quite large. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/file-sharing-software-for-legit-reasons/334653/13 "2005-12-08T18:49:20Z")
“Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes.” – Dr. Warren Jackson, Director, UTCS ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/file-sharing-software-for-legit-reasons/334653/14 "2005-12-08T18:51:25Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > “Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes.” – Dr. Warren Jackson, Director, UTCS Yeah, but the latency is a total bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/file-sharing-software-for-legit-reasons/334653/15 "2005-12-08T18:58:11Z")
Yeah, I tried to play multiplayer Quake 4 over that type of link, and my ping was 3 days. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/file-sharing-software-for-legit-reasons/334653/16 "2005-12-09T06:45:44Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > If there was only one person trying to get the file(s), bittorrent is kind of a waste (unless it’s easier to set up than an FTP server). The real advantage of bittorrent is when there’s many people trying to get one or few files at the same time. Making torrent files are really easy. Plus I had offered others the pics I made but they decided they didn’t need them. ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/file-sharing-software-for-legit-reasons/334653/17 "2005-12-09T14:10:57Z")
You could just toss all your photos into a Zip File, and then upload the file to [http://rapidshare.de/](http://rapidshare.de/) . Very easy to do. ---
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/file-sharing-software-for-legit-reasons/334653/18 "2005-12-09T17:40:53Z")
> [@RandomLetters](#): > > You could just toss all your photos into a Zip File, and then upload the file to [http://rapidshare.de/](http://rapidshare.de/) . Very easy to do. Max 100MB… I have a DVD (4.5gigs) worth. I did send the DVD by mail today. But I would like to find another way. Thanks for the info…1 ?: How do I act as the ftp site with Smartftp? I couldn’t really figure that out. But I may be dumb. -Tcat ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/file-sharing-software-for-legit-reasons/334653/19 "2005-12-09T18:31:41Z")
> [@Tomcat](#): > > How do I act as the ftp site with Smartftp? I couldn’t really figure that out. I don’t know about SmartFTP (it may be client-only, so you cannot be a server), but I can recommend FileZilla [http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/](http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/) Goofy name, but it’s worked well for me, at least as a server.