Howto: Use Dropbox to Sync Tomboy Notes on Ubuntu 10.04
Ubuntu by default comes with Ubuntu One, which is basically a Dropbox clone with a few cool additions. Ubuntu One has got some great desktop integration syncing which I really like, but unfortunately like most people I don't just work in an Ubuntu environment, so Ubuntu One just doesn't suite my needs. I want something that will sync all my files, Tomboy notes etc... cross-platform. So I've been using a feature in Tomboy that allows local folder syncing, which can take advantage of Dropbox's own syncing abilities. Basically what we're going to do is have Tomboy sync to a local folder which is located in the Dropbox folder.
Howto: Install Dropbox on Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx
If you're like me and just can't switch over to Ubuntu One because they don't have a cross-platform client quite yet, Dropbox is still the king of easy folder synchronisation.
Step 1
Go to www.dropbox.com/downloading and download the appropriate .deb file.
Note: If you don't have a dropbox account sign-up for one here
Note: If you're not sure which one to download, you'll notice just above the download links they recommend which one you should download.
Step 2
Once downloaded, locate the file and double click it. You'll be presented with a package installer, just follow the on screen prompts.
Howto: Use Symbolic Links to Sync Folders with Dropbox on Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala
I've been using Dropbox to sync files over multiple OS's for a while now, but I've always found it annoying that I couldn't sync folder I specified rather than just the one Dropbox folder. While my solution isn't quite what I want, I does a pretty good job of it nonetheless, this is done by using symbolic links.
Basically a symbolic link will allow a folder to be in two places at once. In my case I'd like to make a symbolic link of my /Documents folder and place it in my /Dropbox folder so it will be synced to my other machines.
Step 1
Open a Terminal and simply run the following command:
Howto: Compile Dropbox from Source on Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala
It's very straight forward to do and doesn't really take much time at all. If you're on another Debian based distro it should work fine.
Step 1
Download the source files from here www.getdropbox.com/downloading and unzip it (right click and "Extract Here").
Note: If you don't have a dropbox account sign-up for one here
Step 2
We now need to install the dependencies in order to build our install files from source.
Open up your Terminal and type:
Howto: Install Dropbox on Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala
Dropbox have officially released there .deb's for Ubuntu 9.10 32/64 bit! It's quite straight forward to install.
Step 1
Go to www.getdropbox.com/downloading and download the appropriate package for your system.
Note: If you don't have a dropbox account sign-up for one here
Step 2
Run the .deb file and follow the install instructions, it'll just take a moment.
Step 3
It'll tell you to logout and log back in, do so. Now run the application from Applications->Internet->Dropbox. It'll take a moment to load up then give you a warning that it's going to download/install a nautilus daemon, allow it to do so. This will just take a minute or so.
Step 4
You'll soon be greeted with a window that'll ask you if you'd like to login or create an account do what's appropriate for you.
Step 5
Once you've gone through the setup stage your Dropbox folder will now be located in your /home directory. You can however pick where you'd like to locate it and you can see that option in the setup, but the default is fine.
Step 6
Simple drag and drop files in and out of the folder and they will sync with the cloud and other machines you have it running on (can be Windows/Mac/Linux)
Congratulates you're all done! The thing I like the most about Dropbox is the fact that it's so easy to use, cross-platform and most of all free!
If you liked this guide or would like to add to it, please post a comment below and don't forget to subscribe (it's free)
Howto: Install Dropbox on Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala Beta
UPDATE:Ubuntu 9.10 has been released and so has an official .deb install file for Dropbox, updated Howto HERE.
UPDATE: I reposted this guide seeing as there's no need for it here: Howto: Compile Dropbox from Source on Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala
As of yet the dropbox team haven't released a .deb file for Ubuntu 9.10 (32/64 bit), I'm sure they'll release one by the time 9.10 is released, but I can't wait that long. So what we're basically going to do here is compile it from source, it's not all that scary...
Step 1
Download the source files from here www.getdropbox.com/downloading and unzip it (right click and "Extract Here").
Note: If you don't have a dropbox account sign-up for one here
Step 2
We now need to install the dependencies in order to build our install files from source.
Open up your Terminal and type:
sudo apt-get install libnautilus-extension-dev libnotify-dev python-docutils
Follow the prompts and it should a a few minutes to download and install everything.
Step 3
Navigate to where you created your /nautilus-dropbox folder (it'll probably have a version number after it) in the Terminal, in my case:
cd /Downloads/nautilus-dropbox-0.6.1/
Step 4
Once inside type the following commands into your Terminal:
./configure
make
sudo make install
Run each command one after another, they'll run for just a couple of seconds each.
Step 5
After installing it simply log out and log back into your system, navigate to Applications → Internet → Dropbox, click “OK” and it'll download and install the daemon and then prompt you for your dropbox details.
As you can see it's a pretty easy install and it's been working great for me!
If you have any questions, comments or tips, please leave a comment below.
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