In Unison, please
Unison File Synchronizer
Unison is a file-synchronization tool for Unix and Windows. It allows two replicas of a collection of files and directories to be stored on different hosts (or different disks on the same host), modified separately, and then brought up to date by propagating the changes in each replica to the other.
I've started using Unison for maintaining directories of lecture notes:
- I use a small laptop as a notepad at class, using either OpenOffice.org or emacs to edit notes in HTML, or (more recently) using FreeMind to build visual "maps" of the lecture.
- I do most of my work at home on my "big" laptop, so I use Unison to synchronize the little laptop with the big one. That also gives me class documents (downloaded from the class website) and notes on readings (also in FreeMind) on the little laptop if I need to refer to them in class.
- For my wife (in the same class) and classmates who need to refer to my notes, I synch the big laptop with a private section of one of my websites. Yes, some other documents are copied there, but I can get to them without routing myself through a server somewhere.
(I also use the little laptop at work, where I synchronize a directory of meeting notes with my workstation/server on my desk.)
This works wonderfully, so far. I've recommended it to a co-worker who uses Windows, since it can work easily across shared directories (if he doesn't want to use ssh).
Posted by ronlusk at October 19, 2004 01:11 PM