Dropbox Tips and Tricks

Dropbox, or one of the alternatives like Ubuntu One or SparkleShare, are great tools for keeping computers in sync. They offer some unique abilities as well. Here are a few of our favorites:

  • Keep config folders, like Pidgin's .purple directory in your Dropbox, and symlink to it in your home directory. It saves entering the same information on your computers.

  • Have your home computer monitor a specific folder inside Dropbox for torrent files. Then, whenever you want to download a torrent at home, just put the torrent file into your folder on any computer, and it will start downloading at home.

  • Keep your favorite desktop wallpaper photos in Dropbox, so you have access to all your NASA astronomy pictures on your various desktop and laptop computers. (This works for non-NASA photos too, but why would you want non-space-based wallpaper?)

  • Use Dropbox in combination with Calibre and Calibre2opds to keep your e-book library on-line and always accessible. It makes downloading a book from your collection simple when you're on vacation and forget to pack enough books.

Do you have more Dropbox tips? Send them to me at shawn@linuxjournal.com, and I'll publish the good ones on LinuxJournal.com.

Shawn is Associate Editor here at Linux Journal, and has been around Linux since the beginning. He has a passion for open source, and he loves to teach. He also drinks too much coffee, which often shows in his writing.

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