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Google Browser Sync Source Released

Posted by timothy on from the how-every-orphan-should-be-treated dept.

AySz88 writes "Google has made an official announcement of their decision to discontinue Google Browser Sync. But it comes with a brighter side — its source code is now open and available."

33 comments

  1. privacy by iMaple · · Score: 4, Insightful

    One of the reasons why the browersync was popular is that people trusted Google with their setting and passwords and bookmarks( I mean they already have my email, my calender, my photos, my IM history, my cc number).

    Now its not easy for someone to convert this into a generic extension, unless everyone trusts that person already. What the source could be useful for, is syncing it to your own server (or say a university server). The extension can be modified so that the sync server could be made customizable.. that way your data remains with you.

    1. Re:privacy by glop · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You could also encrypt the data before sending it to the server.
      That way any web server is just fine and trustworthy.

    2. Re:privacy by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Have the plugin talk to a bucket at Amazon S3. Encrypt the data. Done.

    3. Re:privacy by electrosoccertux · · Score: 2, Informative

      That's what Mozilla Weave does!

  2. WEAVE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Use Firefox Weave. It's by the mozilla developers and does everything Google Browser Sync does, with support from mozilla.

    1. Re:WEAVE by trash+eighty · · Score: 4, Informative

      Weave is ridiculously in alpha, i couldn't even create an account using that without it crashing, Google Browser Sync just worked. Foxmarks seems to do the trick for now anyway.

    2. Re:WEAVE by philgross · · Score: 1

      Weave does not, in fact, do everything that Google Browser Sync does. Aside from bookmarks, GBS synced passwords and cookies. Weave does neither.

    3. Re:WEAVE by poetmatt · · Score: 1

      Foxmarks does extremely well for addition of bookmarks, plus it even has a history of previous modifications so you can restore your own mistakes.

      Wish I could have seen browser sync but its the same idea overall.

    4. Re:WEAVE by dissy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Foxmarks does extremely well for addition of bookmarks, plus it even has a history of previous modifications so you can restore your own mistakes.

      Wish I could have seen browser sync but its the same idea overall.

      If only. I wish there was a plugin even close to the functionality of google browser sync (and now there might just be one)

      Foxmarks comes up short because all it can sync is your bookmarks and nothing else. Same with everything else that isn't google bookmark sync so far, sadly.

      I need syncing of not just bookmarks, but saved passwords in the encrypted store, saved cookies, and form data.
      Having url and search history synced has been handy too, but not a feature i personally would complain about lacking. The saved passwords and form data however is a deal killer.

      Yet it seems everyone else on slashdot has always shrugged off google browser sync saying such comments as yours, like 'its the same thing over all' where 'its' is always some plugin that has only one out of all the features the google plugin had.

    5. Re:WEAVE by Chyeld · · Score: 4, Informative

      You are misinformed.

    6. Re:WEAVE by Bandman · · Score: 1

      Well, not until those are released, he's not.

      --
      Check out my sysadmin blog!
    7. Re:WEAVE by Chyeld · · Score: 1

      True, I have them marked as avaliable on mine but just noticed that they actually aren't "on" till the 0.2 update that is slated for today.

    8. Re:WEAVE by 19thNervousBreakdown · · Score: 1

      You're right, Weave is pretty alpha. That said:

      • Bookmark syncing works.
      • Running multiple simultaneous browsers is explicitly supported.
      • Your data is encrypted before it's ever sent to the server.
      • If that's not enough, you can run your own. All you need is a WebDAV server.
      • It's getting better. Passwords, history, cookies, forms, extensions, and tabs are all on the way. Most of that has been working at some point or another, just ... poorly. But they're not quite at 0.2 yet, so I think we can cut 'em a little slack.
      --
      <xml><I><am><so><damn>Web 2.0</damn></so></am></I></xml>
    9. Re:WEAVE by Cyvros · · Score: 1

      Haven't used Weave for a while, but I'll start using it again once it can sync add-ons. All I need are my bookmarks, add-ons and add-on settings (don't use history because I just use bookmarks, don't use search plugins because they're all in bookmarks, don't use saved passwords, etc.).

      I'm also waiting for the ability to change/recover your Weave password since I have managed to forget mine.

    10. Re:WEAVE by poetmatt · · Score: 1

      Hey, not so much.

      I want google sync too but honestly it's too much of a security risk on its own. Honestly, encrypted passwords? Come now.

      Form data? Plenty of stuff out there for that,although not all in one combination.

      Encrypted passwords? bring them on Keepass. http://keepass.info/download.html

      works on linux, windows, everything, free. Notably that you can require a key stored on something in addition to password to decrypt. So USB key + password to unencrypt. Works flawless and smooth. Go ahead and store that encrypted file anywhere, I think they use blowfish algorithms for the encryption,

      Forms, well, tons of stuff for that.

      Please don't assume that I wanted to have all my data stored on the web. That's just not a good idea. I don't care who can see my bookmarks, even at work. I do care who can see form data. I know how to keep my systems safe and secure but still, not worth the risk here. honestly.

    11. Re:WEAVE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Google Browser Sync had the option of encrypting your data on your computer (using your key) before it was uploaded. Thus Google or whatever server you uploaded to saw only encrypted data and did not have access to your information.

      I wish more services worked this way.

    12. Re:WEAVE by indi0144 · · Score: 1

      I'd only trust an addon that lets me upload my info (passwords) to my own server and encrypted while you're there. Foxmarks allow you to do that, just the bookmarks, I use FM in 3 Pc and I have nothing to whine about, well, In FF3 you have to allow the cookie from foxmarks.com, thats all. I store the db in the foxmarks service, If they start to offer password sync I'll take my info to my server but I still will be using foxmarks it's very nice.

    13. Re:WEAVE by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      I want google sync too but honestly it's too much of a security risk on its own. Honestly, encrypted passwords? Come now.

      Form data? Plenty of stuff out there for that,although not all in one combination.

      Encrypted passwords? bring them on Keepass. http://keepass.info/download.html

      I fail to see how this synchronizes cookies, bookmarks, passwords among multiple computers that I am using at the same time which is what Google sync solves for me.

      I think they use blowfish algorithms for the encryption

      Google browser sync uses RSA.

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    14. Re:WEAVE by trash+eighty · · Score: 1

      Well all very nice but unfortunately it crashed when trying to verify the account i made so i couldn't try these goodies, something to keep an eye on though.

    15. Re:WEAVE by hedwards · · Score: 1

      It doesn't, but Google sync wasn't secure. Or at least it wasn't the last time I checked. The main problem was that the updates were done without notifications and didn't use a secure server either.

      I never trusted Google sync to handle anything beyond just my bookmarks.

      Carrying around the passwords on a USB stick or similar is a much better choice. I personally use Keepassx and the Win version when necessary.

      But if you trust an add on that uses that type of update procedure it's you're information to do with what you wish.

    16. Re:WEAVE by trash+eighty · · Score: 1

      I agree there is nothing like GBS, it was a terrific piece of software. It just got on with it's job without interfering with what you were doing and now i can't use it i really miss it!

      Though for me bookmark syncing was the main use so Foxmarks is OK for me.

    17. Re:WEAVE by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1

      It doesn't, but Google sync wasn't secure. Or at least it wasn't the last time I checked.

      It does use a secure server (HTTPS), it also encrypts the content with RSA encryption (some of it optional) that it stores on the server, so even Google can't just directly read it (you could find this out easily just by analyzing the extension).

      The main problem was that the updates were done without notifications and didn't use a secure server either.

      I consider the spinning synchronization icon to be a notification.

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    18. Re:WEAVE by dissy · · Score: 1

      But if you trust an add on that uses that type of update procedure it's you're information to do with what you wish.

      That was my overall point. I have multiple servers in collocation for hosting and other such services, and one of those is my applications server, which is where I personally would like to use as the data store for the plugin.

      While I too wouldn't want google to have my saved passwords and such, their plugin at least gave the appearance of best practices security wise at the point i started using it till right up to when they shutdown the back end server.
      SSL for https, RSA security for the encryption of your data before its uploaded, and I actually liked the regularly scheduled backups, since most others ive tried seem to wait until you close firefox, which adds an extra couple minutes to my 'i wanna get out of this and logout already' procedure, or only sync manually (which is OK too really, but its nice to have the option of both when its that simple to make it a setting.)

      But now that the source is available, this might be possible. I haven't checked to see if they released their back end or not yet... Thats the part I am interested in.

  3. Ship has sailed. by sidnelson13 · · Score: 1

    I don't know, I once was an avid user of Google's extension, but then I found out that the feature I used most was synch'ng my bookmarks, and everything else was just overkill. Not only that, but Google's tool did not allow you to have 2 instances connected at the same time, whereas Foxmarks did. I never went back, and never cared too much about cookies or any of the rest not being synch'ed.

    1. Re:Ship has sailed. by bonehead · · Score: 1

      but then I found out that the feature I used most was synch'ng my bookmarks,

      I seem to be in the minority on this, but that's the one part of GBS that I cared the least about.

      What I relied upon it for was keeping browser sessions synced between PCs. Very handy to be able to shut down Firefox at work, go home, and have all the same web pages show up. Saved me countless hours of redoing google searches in the time I used the plug-in. Sadly, I've not found a replacement that offers this functionality. (Weave sounds promising, but I just installed the update that is supposed to include this and haven't had a chance to test it from another computer yet.)

  4. didn't even know it existed. by Arionhawk · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I use Opera, I can keep all my bookmarks in sync, that's all I need, I don't want passwords and cookies transferred to my different computers so id really doesn't matter to me.

    --
    rehab is for quitters
    1. Re:didn't even know it existed. by Bandman · · Score: 0, Redundant

      Then all is well.

      Nothing to see here, good citizen. Move along.

      --
      Check out my sysadmin blog!
  5. Kudos to Google by Bandman · · Score: 2, Insightful

    At least now, there's hope that this will be fixed and improved upon.

    This is a really responsible way to "end of life" a product. Release the source code to the community so that the dedicated users aren't stranded hopelessly.

    --
    Check out my sysadmin blog!
  6. No lose by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google Browser Sync worked like crap for me, it always fcked up my Bookmarks Toolbar Folder, been using Foxmarks since then, and working flawlessly.

  7. GMarks plugin never mentioned? by renbear · · Score: 2, Interesting

    While I recognize that Google Browser Sync was significantly more comprehensive than just bookmarks, I am surprised that no one bringing up bookmark-syncing replacements has brought up GMarks, a Firefox plugin that syncs with Google Bookmarks.

    The link above is its addon page. Its features are listed here, and the project's homepage is here. I've used it for quite some time, and am satisfied with it. It's not amazingly earth-shatteringly innovative, but it gets the job done.

  8. stopped using it by FunkyELF · · Score: 1

    I stopped using it because it was unreliable. I would have to keep re-bookmarking web sites that would disappear.

  9. Popularity by singh.gurjeet · · Score: 1

    I think they discontinued because it was not as popular as delicious. For the record, I have never used BrowserSync. Delicious has always worked nust fine for me... very unintrusive, and very useful. I am not sure but it looks like del.icio.us has Yahoo's backing (or do the own it now? not sure.).