{"slug": "rclone", "name": "rclone", "category": "terminal", "category_name": "Terminal and shell", "description": "Command-line program for syncing, copying and mounting files across cloud storage providers.", "recommenders": 11, "commenters": 16, "warners": 0, "score": 11.071, "rising": 0.38, "first": "2025-11-10", "latest": "2026-09-23", "why": "HN commenters like rclone as a full-featured alternative to rsync and scp that syncs and backs up files to many cloud services such as Dropbox, B2, S3 and iCloud, with FUSE mounting and built-in encryption.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 11, "neutral": 4, "compare": 1, "warn": 0}, "spark": [1, 0, 0, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 0, 2, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": ["Many backends", "Mounting remotes"], "caveat": "Config required", "short_quote": "I recommend switching to \u201crclone\u201d instead to avoid the frustration.", "icon": true, "domain": "rclone.org", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://rclone.org/", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["rclone", "Rclone", "RClone"], "verdict": [{"text": "HN commenters like rclone as a full-featured alternative to rsync and scp", "cites": [{"id": 794476496, "item_id": 49654781, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49654781", "by": "QuiCasseRien", "date": "2026-09-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "rclone has been the real fully featured ultra power alternative to rsync over the past 4-5 years.", "excerpt": "rclone has been the real fully featured ultra power alternative to rsync over the past 4-5 years. How do you compare Syq to rclone ?", "context": "", "use_case": "file copying/sync", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Syq \u2013 copy files between machines fast (better than rsync)"}, {"id": 749842032, "item_id": 46865127, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46865127", "by": "hsbauauvhabzb", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love rclone. I use it in place of scp/sftp frequently.", "excerpt": "I love rclone. I use it in place of scp/sftp frequently. My biggest complaint is that it seems to require a config file, having the ability to `rclone copy root@192.168.1.1:/tmp/foo ./` would be a game changer.", "context": "", "use_case": "copying files over SSH", "switched_from": "", "story": "4x faster network file sync with rclone (vs rsync) (2025)"}]}, {"text": " that syncs and backs up files to many cloud services such as Dropbox, B2, S3 and iCloud,", "cites": [{"id": 774214688, "item_id": 48388418, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48388418", "by": "Zambyte", "date": "2026-06-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Rclone supports Dropbox. That would be my go-to way.", "excerpt": "Rclone supports Dropbox. That would be my go-to way. It is more generic, and can be used with many other storage services. For extra unixy-ness, it can even provide a FUSE interface for the remote.", "context": "", "use_case": "accessing Dropbox from Unix", "switched_from": "", "story": "Using Dropbox the Unix Way"}, {"id": 790676384, "item_id": 49417274, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49417274", "by": "cube00", "date": "2026-08-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I backup with a scheduled rclone to B2 and rsync to my local storage at home so I have the required three copies.", "excerpt": "Not OP but I backup with a scheduled rclone to B2 and rsync to my local storage at home so I have the required three copies. I use the Maildir format so each message is its own file making it atomic.", "context": "", "use_case": "scheduled email backups", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Workspace thinks my domain is an email provider (2025)"}, {"id": 741604097, "item_id": 46350256, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46350256", "by": "moss_dog", "date": "2025-12-21", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Navidrome [1] + an rclone'd S3 bucket", "excerpt": "I use Navidrome [1] + an rclone'd S3 bucket on a Digital Ocean droplet. Works quite well for my purposes! [1] https://github.com/navidrome/navidrome", "context": "", "use_case": "syncing music to S3", "switched_from": "", "story": "I don't want streaming music, I just want to stream my music (2023)"}, {"id": 772681584, "item_id": 48292599, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48292599", "by": "seanhunter", "date": "2026-05-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "rclone[1] works great.", "excerpt": "While there isn't a proper Linux client, if you find yourself on a Linux box and need to sync to or from iCloud, rclone[1] works great. Just putting this out there in the hope that it might help someone. It's also (ironically given TFA) what I used to sync all my files off dropbox when I cancelled my subscription because of their misuse of root to re-add their thing to special permissions on macOs after I had removed", "context": "", "use_case": "syncing files to or from iCloud", "switched_from": "", "story": "Dropbox CEO Drew Houston to step down"}]}, {"text": " with FUSE mounting and built-in encryption.", "cites": [{"id": 774214688, "item_id": 48388418, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48388418", "by": "Zambyte", "date": "2026-06-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Rclone supports Dropbox. That would be my go-to way.", "excerpt": "Rclone supports Dropbox. That would be my go-to way. It is more generic, and can be used with many other storage services. For extra unixy-ness, it can even provide a FUSE interface for the remote.", "context": "", "use_case": "accessing Dropbox from Unix", "switched_from": "", "story": "Using Dropbox the Unix Way"}, {"id": 735829539, "item_id": 45989346, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45989346", "by": "capnjngl", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Was able to mount my drive with RClone, which works", "excerpt": "Like many others, I recently dove head-first into trying Linux as Windows 10 is no longer officially supported, and I really don't like a lot of design changes in Windows 11. So I went and installed Fedora, and for the most part, everything's working great. I use my machine for both work and gaming, and there are really two deal breakers right now on the work side: 1. Most of my work is web-based, and it's really sur", "context": "moved from Windows 10 to Linux for work and gaming", "use_case": "mount Google Drive", "switched_from": "", "story": "Gaming on Linux has never been more approachable"}, {"id": 753170336, "item_id": 47073146, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47073146", "by": "alabhyajindal", "date": "2026-02-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Rclone has a built in crypt library that can encrypt your data and store it in a cloud provider.", "excerpt": "Here's another approach using Rclone and an editor of your choice. Rclone has a built in crypt library that can encrypt your data and store it in a cloud provider. I use it along with Sublime Text to journal, and store my encrypted data on Dropbox. More here: https://alabhya.me/rclone", "context": "", "use_case": "encrypted journal sync", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: An encrypted, local, cross-platform journaling app"}, {"id": 773181265, "item_id": 48323829, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48323829", "by": "zenoprax", "date": "2026-05-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use file-based remote to keep some repos encrypted on S3 using Rclone.", "excerpt": "I was expecting the use of non-SSH git remotes without network access. Any mounted file system can be a valid remote such as a USB drive. I use file-based remote to keep some repos encrypted on S3 using Rclone. For example, `git remote -v` would show: `secure-s3 /mnt/fuse/rclone/secure-s3/git/$REPO.git` I think concurrency is a problem with file-based remotes but for one person keeping a desktop and laptop in sync it", "context": "", "use_case": "encrypted repo storage on S3", "switched_from": "", "story": "Local Git Remotes"}]}, {"text": " Complaints are few: one commenter dislikes that it seems to require a config file,", "cites": [{"id": 749842032, "item_id": 46865127, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46865127", "by": "hsbauauvhabzb", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love rclone. I use it in place of scp/sftp frequently.", "excerpt": "I love rclone. I use it in place of scp/sftp frequently. My biggest complaint is that it seems to require a config file, having the ability to `rclone copy root@192.168.1.1:/tmp/foo ./` would be a game changer.", "context": "", "use_case": "copying files over SSH", "switched_from": "", "story": "4x faster network file sync with rclone (vs rsync) (2025)"}]}, {"text": " and another calls a Google Drive backup setup built on it clunky.", "cites": [{"id": 735716915, "item_id": 45982307, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45982307", "by": "monerozcash", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "compare", "quote": "You can probably get away with google drive+rclone+borg/restic/whatever, but it will be rather clunky.", "excerpt": "This needs more information. 5TB is far from \"BIG\" when it comes to cloud backups. You can probably get away with google drive+rclone+borg/restic/whatever, but it will be rather clunky. Backblaze might be a nicer backend to use. I use rsync.net with borg, but not sure about your budget. Their 1TB lifetime plan is very competitive though.", "context": "", "use_case": "cloud sync", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What is the current state of the art in BIG (>5TB) cloud backups?"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Many backends", "summary": "Works with a wide range of storage services, including Dropbox, iCloud, B2, S3 and JottaCloud.", "quotes": [{"id": 774214688, "item_id": 48388418, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48388418", "by": "Zambyte", "date": "2026-06-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Rclone supports Dropbox. That would be my go-to way.", "excerpt": "Rclone supports Dropbox. That would be my go-to way. It is more generic, and can be used with many other storage services. For extra unixy-ness, it can even provide a FUSE interface for the remote.", "context": "", "use_case": "accessing Dropbox from Unix", "switched_from": "", "story": "Using Dropbox the Unix Way"}, {"id": 772681584, "item_id": 48292599, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48292599", "by": "seanhunter", "date": "2026-05-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "rclone[1] works great.", "excerpt": "While there isn't a proper Linux client, if you find yourself on a Linux box and need to sync to or from iCloud, rclone[1] works great. Just putting this out there in the hope that it might help someone. It's also (ironically given TFA) what I used to sync all my files off dropbox when I cancelled my subscription because of their misuse of root to re-add their thing to special permissions on macOs after I had removed", "context": "", "use_case": "syncing files to or from iCloud", "switched_from": "", "story": "Dropbox CEO Drew Houston to step down"}, {"id": 764248657, "item_id": 47765541, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47765541", "by": "philjohn", "date": "2026-04-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "which is supported by rclone", "excerpt": "For those looking for something at a decent price for up to 5TB, take a look at JottaCloud, which is supported by rclone, and then you can layer restic on top for a complete backup solution. JottaCloud is \"unlimited\" for $11.99 a month (your upload speed is throttled after 5TB). I've been using them for a few years for backing up important files from my NAS (timemachine backups, Immich library, digitised VHS's, Proxm", "context": "Backs up NAS, about 3.5TB", "use_case": "cloud backup transport", "switched_from": "", "story": "Backblaze has stopped backing up your data"}]}, {"label": "Mounting remotes", "summary": "Can mount remote storage locally through FUSE, which commenters use for music libraries and drives.", "quotes": [{"id": 774214688, "item_id": 48388418, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48388418", "by": "Zambyte", "date": "2026-06-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Rclone supports Dropbox. That would be my go-to way.", "excerpt": "Rclone supports Dropbox. That would be my go-to way. It is more generic, and can be used with many other storage services. For extra unixy-ness, it can even provide a FUSE interface for the remote.", "context": "", "use_case": "accessing Dropbox from Unix", "switched_from": "", "story": "Using Dropbox the Unix Way"}, {"id": 735829539, "item_id": 45989346, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45989346", "by": "capnjngl", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Was able to mount my drive with RClone, which works", "excerpt": "Like many others, I recently dove head-first into trying Linux as Windows 10 is no longer officially supported, and I really don't like a lot of design changes in Windows 11. So I went and installed Fedora, and for the most part, everything's working great. I use my machine for both work and gaming, and there are really two deal breakers right now on the work side: 1. Most of my work is web-based, and it's really sur", "context": "moved from Windows 10 to Linux for work and gaming", "use_case": "mount Google Drive", "switched_from": "", "story": "Gaming on Linux has never been more approachable"}, {"id": 733982994, "item_id": 45873937, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45873937", "by": "tuukkao", "date": "2025-11-10", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "my music storage mounted with Rclone", "excerpt": "If you're using Navidrome or similar to stream your music then check out beets-alternatives [0]. It lets you sync (and optionally convert) your library or a subset of it to another location, in my case my music storage mounted with Rclone. It's especially useful if you need to have a different naming structure in your target directory for whatever reason. I like to keep each disc of a multi-disc album in in its own s", "context": "", "use_case": "mounting music storage", "switched_from": "", "story": "Beets: The music geek\u2019s media organizer"}]}, {"label": "Backups and sync", "summary": "Used for scheduled offsite backups and for syncing files to other devices.", "quotes": [{"id": 790676384, "item_id": 49417274, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49417274", "by": "cube00", "date": "2026-08-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I backup with a scheduled rclone to B2 and rsync to my local storage at home so I have the required three copies.", "excerpt": "Not OP but I backup with a scheduled rclone to B2 and rsync to my local storage at home so I have the required three copies. I use the Maildir format so each message is its own file making it atomic.", "context": "", "use_case": "scheduled email backups", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Workspace thinks my domain is an email provider (2025)"}, {"id": 764248657, "item_id": 47765541, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47765541", "by": "philjohn", "date": "2026-04-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "which is supported by rclone", "excerpt": "For those looking for something at a decent price for up to 5TB, take a look at JottaCloud, which is supported by rclone, and then you can layer restic on top for a complete backup solution. JottaCloud is \"unlimited\" for $11.99 a month (your upload speed is throttled after 5TB). I've been using them for a few years for backing up important files from my NAS (timemachine backups, Immich library, digitised VHS's, Proxm", "context": "Backs up NAS, about 3.5TB", "use_case": "cloud backup transport", "switched_from": "", "story": "Backblaze has stopped backing up your data"}, {"id": 790840449, "item_id": 49427528, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49427528", "by": "philips", "date": "2026-08-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "so I can quickly sync everything via rclone to an SD card on devices like an Android tablet", "excerpt": "If it is helpful to other people here is how I manage my ebook library with flatfiles and heterogeneous devices (Android, macOS, iOS, Kindle, etc) I have my own eBook library hosted with copyparty. It is a single binary. Runs on plain files. And speaks OPDS for integration with KOreader (Kindle) or Readest (iOS/macOS). https://github.com/9001/copyparty#opds-feeds It also speaks webdav so I can quickly sync everything", "context": "", "use_case": "syncing ebooks", "switched_from": "", "story": "Bookshelf \u2013 Self-hosted eBook library that runs on object storage"}]}, {"label": "Replaces other tools", "summary": "Commenters use it instead of rsync, scp/sftp and AzCopy.", "quotes": [{"id": 794476496, "item_id": 49654781, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49654781", "by": "QuiCasseRien", "date": "2026-09-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "rclone has been the real fully featured ultra power alternative to rsync over the past 4-5 years.", "excerpt": "rclone has been the real fully featured ultra power alternative to rsync over the past 4-5 years. How do you compare Syq to rclone ?", "context": "", "use_case": "file copying/sync", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Syq \u2013 copy files between machines fast (better than rsync)"}, {"id": 749842032, "item_id": 46865127, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46865127", "by": "hsbauauvhabzb", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love rclone. I use it in place of scp/sftp frequently.", "excerpt": "I love rclone. I use it in place of scp/sftp frequently. My biggest complaint is that it seems to require a config file, having the ability to `rclone copy root@192.168.1.1:/tmp/foo ./` would be a game changer.", "context": "", "use_case": "copying files over SSH", "switched_from": "", "story": "4x faster network file sync with rclone (vs rsync) (2025)"}, {"id": 758903889, "item_id": 47431493, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47431493", "by": "jiggawatts", "date": "2026-03-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I recommend switching to \u201crclone\u201d instead to avoid the frustration.", "excerpt": "Azcopy is special bad, the team that looks after it is made up entirely of junior developers that obstinately refuse to listen to feedback. Its documentation title is \"Copy or move data to Azure Storage by using AzCopy v10\" but it can\u2019t actually do trivial operations like \u201cmove\u201d because the devs are too scared to write code that deletes files: https://github.com/Azure/azure-storage-azcopy/issues/1650#issuecomment-100", "context": "", "use_case": "copying data to cloud storage", "switched_from": "AzCopy", "story": "Federal Cyber Experts Called Microsoft's Cloud \"A Pile of Shit\", yet Approved It"}]}, {"label": "Encryption", "summary": "Its built-in crypt feature encrypts data before storing it with a cloud provider.", "quotes": [{"id": 753170336, "item_id": 47073146, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47073146", "by": "alabhyajindal", "date": "2026-02-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Rclone has a built in crypt library that can encrypt your data and store it in a cloud provider.", "excerpt": "Here's another approach using Rclone and an editor of your choice. Rclone has a built in crypt library that can encrypt your data and store it in a cloud provider. I use it along with Sublime Text to journal, and store my encrypted data on Dropbox. More here: https://alabhya.me/rclone", "context": "", "use_case": "encrypted journal sync", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: An encrypted, local, cross-platform journaling app"}, {"id": 773181265, "item_id": 48323829, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48323829", "by": "zenoprax", "date": "2026-05-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use file-based remote to keep some repos encrypted on S3 using Rclone.", "excerpt": "I was expecting the use of non-SSH git remotes without network access. Any mounted file system can be a valid remote such as a USB drive. I use file-based remote to keep some repos encrypted on S3 using Rclone. For example, `git remote -v` would show: `secure-s3 /mnt/fuse/rclone/secure-s3/git/$REPO.git` I think concurrency is a problem with file-based remotes but for one person keeping a desktop and laptop in sync it", "context": "", "use_case": "encrypted repo storage on S3", "switched_from": "", "story": "Local Git Remotes"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Config required", "summary": "One commenter says it seems to require a config file instead of accepting ad hoc remote paths.", "quotes": [{"id": 749842032, "item_id": 46865127, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46865127", "by": "hsbauauvhabzb", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love rclone. I use it in place of scp/sftp frequently.", "excerpt": "I love rclone. I use it in place of scp/sftp frequently. My biggest complaint is that it seems to require a config file, having the ability to `rclone copy root@192.168.1.1:/tmp/foo ./` would be a game changer.", "context": "", "use_case": "copying files over SSH", "switched_from": "", "story": "4x faster network file sync with rclone (vs rsync) (2025)"}]}, {"label": "Clunky backups", "summary": "A Google Drive plus rclone plus borg/restic backup setup is described as rather clunky.", "quotes": [{"id": 735716915, "item_id": 45982307, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45982307", "by": "monerozcash", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "compare", "quote": "You can probably get away with google drive+rclone+borg/restic/whatever, but it will be rather clunky.", "excerpt": "This needs more information. 5TB is far from \"BIG\" when it comes to cloud backups. You can probably get away with google drive+rclone+borg/restic/whatever, but it will be rather clunky. Backblaze might be a nicer backend to use. I use rsync.net with borg, but not sure about your budget. Their 1TB lifetime plan is very competitive though.", "context": "", "use_case": "cloud sync", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What is the current state of the art in BIG (>5TB) cloud backups?"}]}, {"label": "Mount dependencies", "summary": "The mount subcommand does not work without libfuse or WinFsp installed.", "quotes": [{"id": 740052946, "item_id": 46253309, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46253309", "by": "nickcw", "date": "2025-12-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I'll have to give that a try with rclone.", "excerpt": "That is a nice approach. I'll have to give that a try with rclone. I tried lots of things in the past but not using Alpine which is a great idea Another alternative is https://github.com/ebitengine/purego You can use this to dynamic load shared objects / DLLs so in the OP example they could disable systemd support if the systemd shared object did not load. This technique is used in the cgofuse library ( https://githu", "context": "", "use_case": "cloud file sync", "switched_from": "", "story": "Go is portable, until it isn't"}]}], "who": [{"by": "philjohn", "context": "Backs up NAS, about 3.5TB", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47765541", "date": "2026-04-14"}, {"by": "capnjngl", "context": "moved from Windows 10 to Linux for work and gaming", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45989346", "date": "2025-11-19"}], "tags": ["for cloud backups", "for encrypted storage", "for Linux users", "for self-hosters"], "use_cases": ["file sync", "file copying/sync", "syncing ebooks", "scheduled email backups", "mount google drive locally", "accessing dropbox from unix"], "compared": [{"slug": "restic", "name": "restic", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "rsync", "name": "rsync", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "dropbox", "name": "Dropbox", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "navidrome", "name": "Navidrome", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [{"id": 752027392, "item_id": 47001712, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47001712", "by": "nickcw", "date": "2026-02-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "We also use base32768 encoding in rclone which qntm invented", "excerpt": "This is one of my favourite short stories. In fact I've enjoyed all of qntm's books. We also use base32768 encoding in rclone which qntm invented https://github.com/qntm/base32768 We use this to store encrypted file names and using base32768 on providers which limit file name length based on utf-16 characters (like OneDrive) makes it so we can store much longer file names.", "context": "", "use_case": "storing encrypted file names", "switched_from": "", "story": "MMAcevedo aka Lena by qntm"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49815457", "title": "Phosphor Deck \u2013 one zellij session your phone and laptop share", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49644955", "title": "Show HN: Syq \u2013 copy files between machines fast (better than rsync)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49427001", "title": "Bookshelf \u2013 Self-hosted eBook library that runs on object storage", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49411717", "title": "Google Workspace thinks my domain is an email provider (2025)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48913970", "title": "Ask HN: How useful is Gemini for Google Apps?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48388292", "title": "Using Dropbox the Unix Way", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"neutral": 1, "compare": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 797047330, "item_id": 49815458, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49815458", "by": "rsmedrano", "date": "2026-09-23", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "glue around zellij/ssh/rclone", "excerpt": "Hi HN, author here. I got tired of juggling separate SSH sessions across my phone, laptop and an old e-reader just to check on a few machines at home, so I built this: one persistent zellij session on whatever machine stays on (I call it \"the brain\"), laid out once from a profile. Every device with a terminal drops into the same session -- same tabs, same scrollback. A few decisions I'd be curious to hear opinions on", "context": "", "use_case": "file sync", "switched_from": "", "story": "Phosphor Deck \u2013 one zellij session your phone and laptop share"}, {"id": 794476496, "item_id": 49654781, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49654781", "by": "QuiCasseRien", "date": "2026-09-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "rclone has been the real fully featured ultra power alternative to rsync over the past 4-5 years.", "excerpt": "rclone has been the real fully featured ultra power alternative to rsync over the past 4-5 years. How do you compare Syq to rclone ?", "context": "", "use_case": "file copying/sync", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Syq \u2013 copy files between machines fast (better than rsync)"}, {"id": 790840449, "item_id": 49427528, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49427528", "by": "philips", "date": "2026-08-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "so I can quickly sync everything via rclone to an SD card on devices like an Android tablet", "excerpt": "If it is helpful to other people here is how I manage my ebook library with flatfiles and heterogeneous devices (Android, macOS, iOS, Kindle, etc) I have my own eBook library hosted with copyparty. It is a single binary. Runs on plain files. And speaks OPDS for integration with KOreader (Kindle) or Readest (iOS/macOS). https://github.com/9001/copyparty#opds-feeds It also speaks webdav so I can quickly sync everything", "context": "", "use_case": "syncing ebooks", "switched_from": "", "story": "Bookshelf \u2013 Self-hosted eBook library that runs on object storage"}, {"id": 790676384, "item_id": 49417274, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49417274", "by": "cube00", "date": "2026-08-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I backup with a scheduled rclone to B2 and rsync to my local storage at home so I have the required three copies.", "excerpt": "Not OP but I backup with a scheduled rclone to B2 and rsync to my local storage at home so I have the required three copies. I use the Maildir format so each message is its own file making it atomic.", "context": "", "use_case": "scheduled email backups", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Workspace thinks my domain is an email provider (2025)"}, {"id": 782634352, "item_id": 48914647, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48914647", "by": "cobbzilla", "date": "2026-07-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "maybe if I mount my gdrive locally with something like rclone?", "excerpt": "yeah that\u2019s the \u201cdifferent frontier LLM\u201d I mentioned. Frontier LLMs are decent at making powerpoint files, but can I point it directly at gdrive and tell it write a slides doc? a slides doc I can open on the web, share, etc? maybe if I mount my gdrive locally with something like rclone? something to try next, but why oh why does google have to make it so hard. This feels like dealing with Windows in the 80s/90s", "context": "", "use_case": "mount Google Drive locally", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: How useful is Gemini for Google Apps?"}, {"id": 774214688, "item_id": 48388418, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48388418", "by": "Zambyte", "date": "2026-06-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Rclone supports Dropbox. That would be my go-to way.", "excerpt": "Rclone supports Dropbox. That would be my go-to way. It is more generic, and can be used with many other storage services. For extra unixy-ness, it can even provide a FUSE interface for the remote.", "context": "", "use_case": "accessing Dropbox from Unix", "switched_from": "", "story": "Using Dropbox the Unix Way"}, {"id": 773181265, "item_id": 48323829, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48323829", "by": "zenoprax", "date": "2026-05-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use file-based remote to keep some repos encrypted on S3 using Rclone.", "excerpt": "I was expecting the use of non-SSH git remotes without network access. Any mounted file system can be a valid remote such as a USB drive. I use file-based remote to keep some repos encrypted on S3 using Rclone. For example, `git remote -v` would show: `secure-s3 /mnt/fuse/rclone/secure-s3/git/$REPO.git` I think concurrency is a problem with file-based remotes but for one person keeping a desktop and laptop in sync it", "context": "", "use_case": "encrypted repo storage on S3", "switched_from": "", "story": "Local Git Remotes"}, {"id": 772681584, "item_id": 48292599, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48292599", "by": "seanhunter", "date": "2026-05-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "rclone[1] works great.", "excerpt": "While there isn't a proper Linux client, if you find yourself on a Linux box and need to sync to or from iCloud, rclone[1] works great. Just putting this out there in the hope that it might help someone. It's also (ironically given TFA) what I used to sync all my files off dropbox when I cancelled my subscription because of their misuse of root to re-add their thing to special permissions on macOs after I had removed", "context": "", "use_case": "syncing files to or from iCloud", "switched_from": "", "story": "Dropbox CEO Drew Houston to step down"}, {"id": 764248657, "item_id": 47765541, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47765541", "by": "philjohn", "date": "2026-04-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "which is supported by rclone", "excerpt": "For those looking for something at a decent price for up to 5TB, take a look at JottaCloud, which is supported by rclone, and then you can layer restic on top for a complete backup solution. JottaCloud is \"unlimited\" for $11.99 a month (your upload speed is throttled after 5TB). I've been using them for a few years for backing up important files from my NAS (timemachine backups, Immich library, digitised VHS's, Proxm", "context": "Backs up NAS, about 3.5TB", "use_case": "cloud backup transport", "switched_from": "", "story": "Backblaze has stopped backing up your data"}, {"id": 758903889, "item_id": 47431493, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47431493", "by": "jiggawatts", "date": "2026-03-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I recommend switching to \u201crclone\u201d instead to avoid the frustration.", "excerpt": "Azcopy is special bad, the team that looks after it is made up entirely of junior developers that obstinately refuse to listen to feedback. Its documentation title is \"Copy or move data to Azure Storage by using AzCopy v10\" but it can\u2019t actually do trivial operations like \u201cmove\u201d because the devs are too scared to write code that deletes files: https://github.com/Azure/azure-storage-azcopy/issues/1650#issuecomment-100", "context": "", "use_case": "copying data to cloud storage", "switched_from": "AzCopy", "story": "Federal Cyber Experts Called Microsoft's Cloud \"A Pile of Shit\", yet Approved It"}, {"id": 753170336, "item_id": 47073146, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47073146", "by": "alabhyajindal", "date": "2026-02-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Rclone has a built in crypt library that can encrypt your data and store it in a cloud provider.", "excerpt": "Here's another approach using Rclone and an editor of your choice. Rclone has a built in crypt library that can encrypt your data and store it in a cloud provider. I use it along with Sublime Text to journal, and store my encrypted data on Dropbox. More here: https://alabhya.me/rclone", "context": "", "use_case": "encrypted journal sync", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: An encrypted, local, cross-platform journaling app"}, {"id": 749842032, "item_id": 46865127, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46865127", "by": "hsbauauvhabzb", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love rclone. I use it in place of scp/sftp frequently.", "excerpt": "I love rclone. I use it in place of scp/sftp frequently. My biggest complaint is that it seems to require a config file, having the ability to `rclone copy root@192.168.1.1:/tmp/foo ./` would be a game changer.", "context": "", "use_case": "copying files over SSH", "switched_from": "", "story": "4x faster network file sync with rclone (vs rsync) (2025)"}, {"id": 741604097, "item_id": 46350256, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46350256", "by": "moss_dog", "date": "2025-12-21", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Navidrome [1] + an rclone'd S3 bucket", "excerpt": "I use Navidrome [1] + an rclone'd S3 bucket on a Digital Ocean droplet. Works quite well for my purposes! [1] https://github.com/navidrome/navidrome", "context": "", "use_case": "syncing music to S3", "switched_from": "", "story": "I don't want streaming music, I just want to stream my music (2023)"}, {"id": 740052946, "item_id": 46253309, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46253309", "by": "nickcw", "date": "2025-12-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I'll have to give that a try with rclone.", "excerpt": "That is a nice approach. I'll have to give that a try with rclone. I tried lots of things in the past but not using Alpine which is a great idea Another alternative is https://github.com/ebitengine/purego You can use this to dynamic load shared objects / DLLs so in the OP example they could disable systemd support if the systemd shared object did not load. This technique is used in the cgofuse library ( https://githu", "context": "", "use_case": "cloud file sync", "switched_from": "", "story": "Go is portable, until it isn't"}, {"id": 735829539, "item_id": 45989346, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45989346", "by": "capnjngl", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Was able to mount my drive with RClone, which works", "excerpt": "Like many others, I recently dove head-first into trying Linux as Windows 10 is no longer officially supported, and I really don't like a lot of design changes in Windows 11. So I went and installed Fedora, and for the most part, everything's working great. I use my machine for both work and gaming, and there are really two deal breakers right now on the work side: 1. Most of my work is web-based, and it's really sur", "context": "moved from Windows 10 to Linux for work and gaming", "use_case": "mount Google Drive", "switched_from": "", "story": "Gaming on Linux has never been more approachable"}, {"id": 735716915, "item_id": 45982307, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45982307", "by": "monerozcash", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "compare", "quote": "You can probably get away with google drive+rclone+borg/restic/whatever, but it will be rather clunky.", "excerpt": "This needs more information. 5TB is far from \"BIG\" when it comes to cloud backups. You can probably get away with google drive+rclone+borg/restic/whatever, but it will be rather clunky. Backblaze might be a nicer backend to use. I use rsync.net with borg, but not sure about your budget. Their 1TB lifetime plan is very competitive though.", "context": "", "use_case": "cloud sync", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What is the current state of the art in BIG (>5TB) cloud backups?"}, {"id": 733982994, "item_id": 45873937, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45873937", "by": "tuukkao", "date": "2025-11-10", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "my music storage mounted with Rclone", "excerpt": "If you're using Navidrome or similar to stream your music then check out beets-alternatives [0]. It lets you sync (and optionally convert) your library or a subset of it to another location, in my case my music storage mounted with Rclone. It's especially useful if you need to have a different naming structure in your target directory for whatever reason. I like to keep each disc of a multi-disc album in in its own s", "context": "", "use_case": "mounting music storage", "switched_from": "", "story": "Beets: The music geek\u2019s media organizer"}]}