Your Own Cloud Drive, Now Open Source
If you've ever wanted the convenience of Google Drive but without handing your files over to a big tech company, this one's for you. The team at Linagora has open-sourced Twake Drive, a self-hosted file storage and sharing platform that puts you back in control of your data.
It's a familiar concept—upload, organize, and share files from a web interface—but the key difference is where it lives. Instead of on Google's servers, it runs on yours.
What It Does
Twake Drive is an open-source file storage and synchronization service. In simple terms, it lets you:
- Upload and manage files through a clean web interface.
- Create folders and organize your content.
- Share files and folders with others via links.
- It's designed to be a core component of the larger Twake collaboration suite but functions perfectly as a standalone file drive.
Why It's Cool
The obvious win is data ownership. By self-hosting Twake Drive, you know exactly where your files are and who has access. This is a huge deal for developers working on sensitive projects, teams with strict data governance policies, or anyone with privacy concerns.
From a technical perspective, it's also a great example of a modern web application. The frontend is built with React, and the backend relies on Node.js and MongoDB. For developers, this makes the codebase relatively approachable for understanding how a system like this is pieced together or for contributing back to the project.
How to Try It
The quickest way to get Twake Drive up and running is with Docker. If you have Docker and Docker Compose installed, you can be up and running in a few commands.
-
Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/linagora/twake-drive.git cd twake-drive -
The repository provides a
docker-compose.ymlfile. You can likely start it with:docker-compose up -d -
Once the containers are running, open your browser and navigate to
http://localhost:3000(or the port configured in your setup). You should see the Twake Drive interface.
Be sure to check the project's README.md for the most current setup instructions and any necessary configuration.
Final Thoughts
Twake Drive isn't trying to be a 1:1, feature-for-feature clone of Google Drive, and that's okay. What it provides is a solid, self-hosted foundation for file management that respects your privacy. For developers, it's a fantastic option for a personal cloud, a base to build upon, or just an interesting open-source project to explore. In a world of vendor lock-in, having a viable open-source alternative like this is always a welcome sight.
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