In a short time the Cloud has flooded our lives, to such an extent that many of us who until that moment did not know what it was Offline and Online, now we even use them on a regular basis.
Fortunately, Ubuntu users can use the classic web services solutions that work in the Cloud to create various types of Cloud. In Ubuntu we can make more complex 'clouds' like Ubuntu Server plus OpenStack and 'clouds'simpler like Ubuntu Desktop plus OwnCloud, a program that turns our pc into a powerful server that offers a very homemade cloud or cloud solution.
OwnCloud 8 is the latest version of this popular show which has great improvements as a result of its continued use and popularity. The main improvement that comes in OwnCloud 8 is the improvement in communication with servers and other clouds, thus in addition to improving interaction with Cloud services such as Dropbox, OwnCloud 8 also communicates very well with other types of cloud services such as S3, Google Drive, or WebDAV servers. Not forgetting that external servers that are based on OwnCloud are also fully supported. This improvement means that we can share files between clouds, use search engines and even be able to use viewers without having to download the file.
OwnCloud 8 will better communicate with other 'cloud' solutions
The search engine in OwnCloud 8 is another tool that has improved substantially, something that many users have been asking for. The LDAP functions are also another thing that has changed and improved in OwnCloud 8. In general it can be said that the developers of OwnCloud 8 have taken into account the usability functions, this version being more usable than the others.
As in previous versions, in order to install OwnCloud 8 on our pc we have to install a desktop version and a server version, or a Client version and a server version. If we want to do it on several different PCs, we will have to install the server version on the most powerful computer and the desktop or client version on the computer with fewer resources. Now, if you don't trust it, there will always be Ubuntu OpenStack, although it is more difficult to use, for the moment, than OwnCloud 8.
But what is uploaded still cannot be encrypted? I mean to encrypt locally, before the files go out to the network. Because that completely removes the Owncloud platform from any professional use, and also personal, why not, minimally aware of the importance of privacy except for those who set up their own server. But if Owncloud wants to sell its "Enterprise" edition, its best customers will be cloud service providers, such as Openmailbox, Portknox, and others who sell cloud storage with Owncloud to third parties, and this is where the problem lies: that those Third parties no longer have control over the servers, and since their data reaches the OC servers unencrypted, they have to trust that administrators are not going to snoop on their things to sell information to this or that advertising company, or to the SGAE, or go to know who.
No, as long as OC does not support local encryption, such as Mega or Wuala, it is not a reliable platform if you do not manage your own server and are sure that no one else has access to it, which implies knowing a lot about network security and being constantly updated on new threats, solutions, updates, configurations, etc, etc; that is to say, something impossible for the average or advanced user, and almost exclusively for professionals in the administration of systems and networks.
I clarify that I am a defender of free software 100%. I do not believe that Stallman is a "pirate" but on the contrary, the facts are showing every day that his "radicalism" and his distrust of captive software and hardware has always been quite justified. On my mobile I do not have any Google application (except for Android itself, obviously, which by the way, is not Android stock but Cyanogenmod, so let's say it is "a little less Google" and much more free and reliable), and hardly any application closed source except for the, unfortunately, irreplaceable "guasap". Everything else installed I have installed from the free "market" F-Droid; and it goes without saying that on the desktop my operating system is Linux and that Chrome has never "stepped on" my hard drive but I only navigate with Firefox.
But believing in something does not mean being a fan of it and denying reality so as not to feel like a "traitor", so I recommend that you DO NOT use Owncloud if the server is not under your control and you know how to manage it well. If you are looking for a cloud storage service, open an account in Mega, in Wuala or in any other that allows local encryption, that is, when your data leaves your computer or mobile, it is already encrypted, so to the server only that encrypted data will arrive, and if someone hacks those servers, be it Chinese crackers, spies of the infamous NSA, the police, they look for a podophile who has an account on the same server as you, or simply the company of the servers, who have signed a juicy agreement to sell your data to an electronic marketing company, if that happens, I repeat, you will have the assurance that they will not be able to see your files, and your copies of conversations saying marranadas to the girlfriend or / and the lover, they will remain in a safe place.
There have been requests for Owncloud to incorporate local encryption, but they always come up with excuses that then compatibility would be lost and I don't know, but there we have the other platforms, which seem to not have that problem, so sometimes I suspect if there will not be some "insider" on Owncloud who doesn't want it to be a truly secure platform. This may sound paranoid, but remember that it has already come to light that US spy agencies had intervened in the specifications of RSA encryption and also in SSL to make them more insecure. Lizard, lizard ...
regards
PS: Until Ubuntu mobile is finished and mature, I recommend that you protect your privacy by capping abusive permissions of mobile applications with Xposed and Xprivacy installed: http://repo.xposed.info/module/biz.bokhorst.xprivacy