frontpage.
newsnewestaskshowjobs

Made with ♥ by @iamnishanth

Open Source @Github

fp.

Open in hackernews

Mysteries of Dropbox: Testing of a Distributed Sync Service (2016) [pdf]

https://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/papers/mysteriesofdropbox.pdf
51•JackeJR•3d ago

Comments

JackeJR•3d ago
There was a discussion of a self-built dropbox on the frontpage (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47673394). This is just to show that dropbox is thoroughly tested for all kinds of wierd interactions and behaviours across OS using a very formal testing framework.
gwbas1c•1h ago
I was lead on Syncplicity's desktop client. File synchronization has a myriad of corner cases that are difficult and non-intuitive to think through; and non-programmers often thoroughly underestimate just how difficult these are to anticipate and mitigate.

The fact that they found bugs that rely on sensitive timing doesn't surprise me.

ai_slop_hater•1h ago
Can you share which difficult and non-intuitive corner cases there are? I guess debouncing, etc.
tomaskafka•53m ago
Great paper! I’m glad I avoided OwnCloud after discovering how much of a hot PHP mess it is (and that it was about 10x slower for LAN sync than Seafile on a same machine).

I would love to have all the file sync solutions tested with this suite.

siruwastaken•52m ago
So from what I am seeing in this with a brief look over it, the only cases in which data loss seemed to occur were when two clients were editing the same file temporally close to each other? I.e. you end up creating something similar to a git merge conflict, which cannot be solved automatically well, and thus can generate loss of data.
varenc•26m ago
Every time I try out a Dropbox competitor, I keep coming back to Dropbox. I admit I'm intensely bias, but every other file sync service seems to struggle with things like:

- quickly synchronizing small changes in very large files

- handling a very large number of files to begin with

- renaming many small files and directories in quick succession, especially if subsequent renames happen before the system has fully synced

peterpost2•21m ago
Anything written by John Hughes is worth a read. He also also wrote quickcheck.
devin•13m ago
One of the authors, John Hughes did a talk on property-based testing at Clojure West some number of years back. Worth a watch if you're interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi0rHwfiX1Q

Mysteries of Dropbox: Testing of a Distributed Sync Service (2016) [pdf]

https://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/papers/mysteriesofdropbox.pdf
51•JackeJR•3d ago•7 comments

CPU-Z and HWMonitor Compromised

https://old.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1sh4e5l/warning_hwmonitor_163_download_on_the_offi...
74•Wingy•54m ago•9 comments

Code is run more than read (2023)

https://olano.dev/blog/code-is-run-more-than-read/
32•facundo_olano•1h ago•6 comments

FBI used iPhone notification data to retrieve deleted Signal messages

https://9to5mac.com/2026/04/09/fbi-used-iphone-notification-data-to-retrieve-deleted-signal-messa...
300•01-_-•4h ago•144 comments

How NASA built Artemis II’s fault-tolerant computer

https://cacm.acm.org/news/how-nasa-built-artemis-iis-fault-tolerant-computer/
519•speckx•1d ago•195 comments

A new trick brings stability to quantum operations

https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2026/04/a-new-trick-brings-stability-to-quantum-...
191•joko42•11h ago•46 comments

I still prefer MCP over skills

https://david.coffee/i-still-prefer-mcp-over-skills/
332•gmays•13h ago•285 comments

Penguin 'Toxicologists' Find PFAS Chemicals in Remote Patagonia

https://www.ucdavis.edu/health/news/penguin-toxicologists-find-pfas-chemicals-remote-patagonia
83•giuliomagnifico•9h ago•30 comments

Intel 486 CPU announced April 10, 1989

https://dfarq.homeip.net/intel-486-cpu-announced-april-10-1989/
110•jnord•3h ago•95 comments

Model-Based Testing for Dungeons & Dragons

https://www.loskutoff.com/blog/model-based-testing-dnd/
83•Firfi•3d ago•37 comments

Deterministic Primality Testing for Limited Bit Width

https://www.jeremykun.com/2026/04/07/deterministic-miller-rabin/
6•ibobev•2d ago•0 comments

Native Instant Space Switching on macOS

https://arhan.sh/blog/native-instant-space-switching-on-macos/
583•PaulHoule•19h ago•286 comments

C++: Freestanding Standard Library

https://www.sandordargo.com/blog/2026/04/08/cpp-freestanding
4•ingve•2d ago•0 comments

Tech job relocation market is recovering. The competition is growing faster

https://relocateme.substack.com/p/the-tech-relocation-job-market-is
33•andrewstetsenko•1h ago•19 comments

We've raised $17M to build what comes after Git

https://blog.gitbutler.com/series-a
236•ellieh•13h ago•508 comments

OpenAI backs Illinois bill that would limit when AI labs can be held liable

https://www.wired.com/story/openai-backs-bill-exempt-ai-firms-model-harm-lawsuits/
331•smurda•2h ago•236 comments

Show HN: Marimo pair – Reactive Python notebooks as environments for agents

https://github.com/marimo-team/marimo-pair
68•manzt•2d ago•14 comments

DRAM has a design flaw from 1966. I bypassed it [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKbgulTp3FE
328•surprisetalk•2d ago•120 comments

Artemis II and the invisible hazard on the way to the Moon

https://www.ansto.gov.au/news/artemis-ii-and-invisible-hazard-on-way-to-moon-part-1
62•zeristor•8h ago•49 comments

US summons bank bosses over cyber risks from Anthropic's latest AI model

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/10/us-summoned-bank-bosses-to-discuss-cyber-risks...
23•ascold•1h ago•3 comments

Generative art over the years

https://blog.veitheller.de/Generative_art_over_the_years.html
204•evakhoury•3d ago•54 comments

Show HN: QVAC SDK, a universal JavaScript SDK for building local AI applications

22•qvac•19h ago•5 comments

Show HN: Keeper – embedded secret store for Go (help me break it)

https://github.com/agberohq/keeper
51•babawere•6h ago•26 comments

Charcuterie – Visual similarity Unicode explorer

https://charcuterie.elastiq.ch/
280•rickcarlino•19h ago•65 comments

The Art of Risk Management (2017)

https://www.bcg.com/publications/2017/finance-function-excellence-corporate-development-art-risk-...
41•walterbell•2d ago•11 comments

CollectWise (YC F24) Is Hiring

https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/collectwise/jobs/Ktc6m6o-ai-agent-engineer
1•OBrien_1107•10h ago

"Negative" views of Broadcom driving VMware migrations, rival says

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2026/04/nutanix-claims-it-has-poached-30000-vmware...
10•breve•1h ago•0 comments

Old laptops in a colo as low cost servers

https://colaptop.pages.dev/
358•argentum47•21h ago•210 comments

Unfolder for Mac – A 3D model unfolding tool for creating papercraft

https://www.unfolder.app/
291•codazoda•22h ago•55 comments

Supply chain nightmare: How Rust will be attacked and what we can do to mitigate

https://kerkour.com/rust-supply-chain-nightmare
9•fanf2•50m ago•3 comments