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(This may not be an appropriate question--if there is a better stack site for it, please let me know.)

I belong to an organization that distributes sheet music to its users. Right now, we have to individually download each file, and it's a pain. Files are frequently updated, and every time there's a new version we have to download the new one, delete the old one, blah blah blah.

I've automated the process myself with Python, so when I run my script I have a nice folder with all the current files. I'm looking for a way to share this with others. I initially thought Dropbox, but that just requires users to go to my Dropbox folder and still do it all manually (I know there's an option to download as a .zip, but many of our members are not very technically proficient).

Is there a way to have users sign up and somehow have a folder on their computers download what's in mine? A helpful Google suggestion may be all I need.

thumbtackthief
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  • If the files aren't too big (<10 Mb) you could send them via email. –  Jan 15 '14 at 15:12
  • I am starting with just the pdf files, but will eventually include mp3 and videos as well. That being said, we have 300 members (although I have no idea what percentage would sign up for this) and still would require the user to individually download each. I'd also then have to track what's new/changed, although that's not the end of the world. – thumbtackthief Jan 15 '14 at 15:16
  • Are the files private ? if not, you can just change your script to automatically keep track of changes, download the files into the public directory of a web server, and then email each file's link to each user. –  Jan 15 '14 at 15:19
  • You may find [this question helpful](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/22676/how-do-i-download-a-file-over-http-using-python) – wnnmaw Jan 15 '14 at 15:20
  • I have all the files automatically downloaded on my own computer. I'm looking to distribute them. – thumbtackthief Jan 15 '14 at 15:21
  • You realize that the DropBox client auto-downloads the files to the local machine? – Dark Falcon Jan 15 '14 at 15:22
  • @thumbtackthief, ah, got it. Then you can either email them as Andre suggests, or get some sort of shared server which there are plenty of services for – wnnmaw Jan 15 '14 at 15:24
  • @DarkFalcon To the users? What if they don't have a Dropbox account? I also don't want to share the folder and give them editing abilities; I would just want to share the link. – thumbtackthief Jan 15 '14 at 15:25

2 Answers2

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Google Drive, which is quite similar to Dropbox, allows you to set permissions per share. The downside is that your users have to install a client and will need a Google account.

Alternatively, you can set up a rsync server and users can use a client like Unison to keep their files up to date. You will have to prepare detailed instructions for non-technical users, though.

Daniel Hepper
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I would use .. a VCS ? If it were feasible, I'd hack up a windows installer that: - installs git/subversion/your favorite vcs - does an initial checkout/clone of the repository - add a scheduled job to the machine (windows equiv of cronjobs) to run every hour and update the working copies

Could be done in a couple hours work and should be simple enough that users just need to run the installer and eventually choose the location of where to clone the repo (which directory to place it in). Then from there you push your changes to the repo and the clients computers will check for updates every hour or so.

smassey
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  • right... which is why: if you could provide an installer, and they're capable of clicking 'next -> next -> ok' they're set. – smassey Jan 16 '14 at 09:10
  • This sounds interesting... it may be beyond my current capabilities--I'm fairly new at all this. I'm developing on a Mac, but would want whatever I make to be usable on Windows as well, obviously. Can you give me a couple key words to Google so I can investigate this stuff? – thumbtackthief Jan 16 '14 at 15:21
  • Sure .. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3767/what-is-the-best-choice-for-building-windows-installers for the installer. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc772785(v=ws.10).aspx for the "cronjob" scheduler and of course subversion or git for the vcs: http://git-scm.com/ – smassey Jan 16 '14 at 16:09