On 12/09/2011 09:41 AM, Invisible wrote:

> The latest example is
>
> http://xkcd.com/949/
>
> After reading several dozen forum posts, it seems nobody has a really
> good solution for doing this.

I guess the problem is security. If you have two machines with an 
Ethernet cable between them, it's really quite easy to transfer files 
from one to the other. The trouble is, if *you* can connect to my home 
PC to retrieve a file, then ANY RANDOM INTERNET USER can connect to my 
PC and obtain that same file. (And possibly others, if I configured it 
wrong.) Problems get far worse if I'm expecting you to *send* me a file...

Then of course there's the fact that both PCs have to be switched on at 
the same time. That's probably only an issue for large files. Logically, 
there is only one way around this: a 3rd party server. That immediately 
means that some 3rd party has to pay for your file transfer. That means 
that either you pay them, or they spam you with adverts.

Me? I have a web server. (It costs money.) So I can use that. Safe in 
the knowledge that I can post a URL here, and I won't have half the 
POV-Ray forum DDoSing my home PC off the Internet. But if you don't 
already have something like that set up... oh dears.

Oh, and if you're not trying to transfer a file between *your* PC and 
another, but trying to explain to your auntie how to transfer a file to 
your uncle... suddenly "oh dears" doesn't even cover it.

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