News, info, and opinion by Mac users, for Mac users.

September 26, 2007

internet

The notMac Challenge may finally be won

Posted Sep. 26, ’07, 7:33 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Internet

dotMac Like a man unable to say no, I keep returning to Apple’s .Mac service. Year after year, I pay a largish sum of money (discounted by buying it through Amazon) to keep an email account, an online data store, syncing, and services integrated into Apple’s applications. By and large though, the service hasn’t gotten a lot of lovin’ from Apple. It’s frustrating to watch as free services pass Apple’s paid solution by (at a really fast clip I might add).

The notMac Challenge had the goal of completely replacing Apple’s service with a bit of software that eliminates the yearly .Mac tax as it’s frequently called. Ben Spink, the developer of CrushFTP, has submitted what seems to be a complete solution.

It includes a “lite” version of his FTP server software and it currently available for download and evaluation. I personally have not tried it as I get warm fuzzies knowing that I’m using the Apple supported solution. The thread is full of people that confirm it mostly works, but it still requires some knowhow. I’m also unwilling to surrender one of my Macs as a constantly running server. If you’re desperate to avoid the tax, it’s a worth a try.

[via Ars Technica]


Leave a comment

 



Visit other IDG sites: