Proton Annual Survey: Gentle reminder to kindly ask for a Linux Client for Drive, now.
Proton Annual Survey: Gentle reminder to kindly ask for a Linux Client for Drive, now.
Andy Yen, the CEO of Proton (Mail, Drive, VPN, Pass...) answered a lot of the questions you, the community, asked, in an interview that covers basically ever...
The link right here goes to 40:02 of Proton' boss on the TLE channel about Linux support, where a Drive Client is deemed so difficult to achieve that they don't even have a roadmap for it. Nor is the word "Linux" featured anywhere on proton's pages about Drive.
coughdropboxcough
If I believe what I see on Lemmy, 99% of users here are on Linux, and the 1% remaining probably are just waiting on a Drive Linux Client to make the switch, right? Right?
Please take the survey and maybe mention politely our deep sorrow and profound distress.
https://form.typeform.com/to/L0UNpRar
The accompanying message says "Limited submissions. Respond now to ensure your voice is heard."
Let's go! Thanks!
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While I wish Linux support was something they prioritized, it doesn't take much to understand it's never gonna happen.
It takes a single look into the Proton VPN v4 client to understand Linux is a third class citizen at best.
@pathief @reallyzen "Catering" only to Ubuntu is a path, but is it a path that most Proton VPN paid subscribers take? I doubt that Proton has asked it's Proton VPN users - I know I've never been asked.
Many vendors offer a DEB solution and a RPM solution. Why do vendors prefer to arbitrarily drop DEB and RPM and switch exclusively to Canonical? Especially when many Linux users lump Canonical in with Microsoft? Is it possible that Proton VPN is unaware of this? I don't think so.
The problem isn't just the packaging format, it's the quality of the application. It's missing a ton of functionalities that exist in the windows version. Wireguard isn't available, for instance. And have you seen the design? Why do other OS get a beautiful application and we have that?
@pathief I don't think I would hold MS up as a baseline minimum standard to match.
Proton does improve their products; even in the Linux world. There is room for improvement. Which company has reached the mountaintop where there is no room for improvement? None of them.
The best users can do is keep asking. To fail to do that is an indicator that better Linux support doesn't matter. It does matter - very much.
Proton does improve their products, that's true. I'm very happy with the improvements they have been making with Proton Pass, for instance.
But they don't improve their linux products, at least not at a reasonable pace. How many years to we need to wait for WireGuard support? Or ipv6? :/
@pathief Ask Proton.
Is wireguard itself still beta? It's been a while since I considered it so I''m not up on it.
IP6 is freaky. Everyone is yelling for IP6 - few have done more than dip a toe into that pool. No one wants to support both IP4 and IP6 and many are waiting to be forced to shift from 4 to 6. Expect chaos when that day finally comes.
Proton supports Wireguard on Windows for several years now.
@pathief It seems Wireguard has reached v1 https://www.wireguard.com/install/ Available on MacOs, BSD, various Linux distros, Androd, IOS, and Windows.
Ask Proton if they are working on Wirguard for Linux.
If you use the config file generator from the Proton website, you can have a Wiregard config tailor-made to load in NetworkManager for instance. Or several with or without NAT, different exits and so on.
I don't know how this isn't widely known, it's been there for a while.
I know about this but it sucks for several reasons:
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This doesn't use the proton vpn client
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You need to setup configuration files for each country you wish to connect
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You configure a server directly, you can't just connect to "France" and have the client choose the server with the least load
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You can no longer select a random country, you have to introduce the randomness yourself
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You have to manage configurations like kill switches on your own, since you're no longer using the proton client
It's certainly a viable option, but why must linux users have all these drawbacks? :|
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That Boss guy says it there, Linux customership is negligible. I was happy to switch to an ethical ecosystem, but at the end of the day Proton is a company that runs for profit.
Nevermind that this specific Linux customership is exponentially sensitive to privacy and security next to the average windows user, our money still doesn't matter.
It's... annoying. Drive is relegated to weekly Dead Stupid Backups while Dropbox gives me real filesharing, VPN is highly unstable next to my former.. dare I mention it? Yes: next to NkrdVPN which was ultra reliable anywhere I went, and Mail is only used for the passmail obfuscation since I don't think I'll stay with proton and didn't switch my main mail to it.
I'd be curious to know if the userbase of proton products reflects that of general statistics of OS'es repartition.
That Boss guy says it there, Linux customership is negligible.
Yeah, of course. I understand this. Developing for Linux is hard and probably not worth it financially.
It's also a chicken/egg problem, isn't it? If a Linux user is seeking a VPN software, why would they pick Proton over something with a better client? (eg: Mullvad). You can't get a good user base when your product is so inferior.
The Proton Drive problem is something I don't really understand. How hard would it be to develop a v1 product with rclone and then a v2 product that was actually nice?
@reallyzen @pathief I'm a Proton paying customer and have Proton Drive access. I'm also an exclusive Linux user (some Android - an intrusive flavor of Linux).
I want Proton Drive on Linux. It ain't there yet. Limited resources limit services. Rather than dragging Proton down (chasing potential customers away) try bringing more customers in.
ProtonMail is free. ProtonVPN is free. Try before you decide whether or not to buy. Free use of VPN by way of openVPN ain't half bad.
I am a full Proton paying customer too. At the time of signup, a Drive Linux client was supposedly next in line... There's zero mention of it now. I need a VPN IRL and wasn't keen on relying on a free plan where I was used to pay for one anyway. Aaaand I planned to move my emails of course since it's in the bundle.
I'd gladly uplift people and advocate for progress on the privacy and security fronts, invite world+dog to join but I can't do it now in this situation. Linux users being underserved is how I feel.
Mandatory "I use Arch BTW" mention.
@reallyzen Relunctantly, I have to agree, but we only know one side of this story. Companies tend not to reveal reasoning in any detail when defending themselves. Sometimes they even deliberately mislead. As a result, it's not likely anyone will *know* how truthful any response would be - all we can do is ask the question.