First look at Ubuntu One beta

Yesterday I received my invitation to the Ubuntu One beta. I played around with it for a few hours and these are my opinions.

What is Ubuntu One

For those who haven’t heard of it, Ubuntu One is a service that provides remote storage that integrates well with the Ubuntu Desktop. It allows you to share files between multiple machines, access these files from anywhere in the world via a webbased client and share your files with other Ubuntu One users.

Installation

After receiving my beta invitation I was asked to choose a subscription plan. Ubuntu one provides a free subscription plan with 2gb of storage and a paid plan with 10gb of storage for $10.00/month. I chose the free plan for now. After finishing my subscription I was presented some very clear installation instructions. Installation of Ubuntu One is as simple as installing 2 software packages. First the PPA which enables the Ubuntu One repository, then the actual software from the new repository.

When I first ran the software I was redirected to the website of Ubuntu One where I could login and add my computer to my Ubuntu One account.

Usage

Using Ubuntu One is as simple as just copying or creating files in the newly created folder on your harddrive.

When you add or change files to the local Ubuntu One folder an icon in the notification area starts rotating to let you know the software is synchronizing the local and remote filesystems.

After synchronization your files are available from the webclient. In this webclient you can view and download your current directories and files as well as upload new files or create subdirectories. You can share files with other Ubuntu One users by selecting a file, clicking on the “sharing” button and entering the email address of the person you want to share the file with.

The “Shared with me” folder contains the files or folders from other Ubuntu One users that have shared something with you.

When you have another computer linked to your Ubuntu One account the new or updated files will be visible after you trigger a sync from thet computer.

Issues

When I added some files via the web client and wanted to sync the remote and local folders I couldn’t find a synchronize button. I had to manually click the disconnect and reconnect buttons on the notification icon for the synchronization to kick in. Another way to start the synchronization from remote to local was by adding or changing a file in the local folder. This would trigger a synchronization and the new remote files became visible locally.

When adding new folders in the webclient it looks like the folder is added twice. This looks like a minor UI problem because after a refresh or a sync the folder is displayed only once as it is supposed to be.

The web client doesn’t have a refresh button, after a sync you have to manually refresh the page to view the new state of the remote folders

My thoughts

Although Ubuntu One is still in its beta stage and still has some issues I am certain this will become a very userfriendly way of sharing documents between multiple machines or among friends. Because of it’s tight integration with the Ubuntu desktop and thus synchronizing files is as easy as copying or saving them to a folder, even the most non-technical users are able to share data without the use of USB-sticks or email attachments.

I encourage everyone interested in the service to apply for the beta and to start reporting issues so this project can get out of beta soon and become another valuable addition to the Ubuntu desktop.