[Owncloud] My feedback about ownCloud 5

[Thomas ROBERT]

Hello everyone,

I'm using owncloud for a few month now and I would like to give you my
feedback about it. So this message is mostly for the developers of
ownCloud.

Just to give you some context, I'm the "CIO" of an association and we
need a storage system.
The specifications of our system is:
- storage of the files on the cloud
- we have different folders, one for each of our activity (~ 3 Go,
mostly odp and pdf but also sometimes bigger files)
- 1 computer sync with all the files (synced with the master user)
- users that can have access to some of the folders of the master user
(sharing configuration chosen by this master user) and that need to be
able to sync them of their personal computer

We first use Dropbox with its sharing option and client sync. A few
month ago, I chose to switch from Dropbox to ownCloud because it
seemed to have nice advantages (keeping files on my own server, having
the storage space I want, better managing of user accounts, calendar
function, etc.).

Currently I must say that the sharing and deleting function of
owncloud is quite problematic regarding my intense usage of it, and
far away from those of Dropbox and Google Drive.
ownCloud is based on a very nice concept but still have - I think -
some very big issues to fix before being ready for a powerful use. I'm
having for example big difficulties with the client software (don't
sync, ...), with versionning and the deletion of shared files etc.

I also feel like the development of ownCloud is either slow or focused
on things I don't see or use.  When I propose a vital function
according to me, it seems that in your system it's impossible to be
done. Ex : https://github.com/owncloud/core/issues/3058
Maybe it's just because ownCloud is developed for another kind of
usage than mine. Maybe my usage is a bit particular. But if you think
modifying ownCloud to fit my usage is worth it, maybe you should
reconsider how some big feature like sharing or deleting works because
it seems to me that you are stuck with the way it currently works.

Again, I love the concept of ownCloud, but I'm using it for quite a
while now and I'm now thinking of switching again for Google Drive
because of all the problems I'm having with ownCloud. And I'm quite
sad about it.

I just wanted to give you guys my feedback of this software that I do
love in the concept, even if I'm having problems with it.

Have a nice day.
Bye.
Thomas ROBERT