The general populace hasn’t seemed to yet grasp the magic that this swiss army knife of a program promises. All of your mobile devices - synced automatically. All your calendars, synchronized automatically, Photos, Facebook and Flickr - automatically synced. This guide will show you how.
Introduction
Let me warn you that this program is still in development stages. It isn't even a 1.0 release, so there are bound to be some issues. In fact, issues are what I’ve had all down long with this thing, even when it’s working properly. In some ways this should be essentially rsync on speed - and sometimes it is. But, despite bugs, Conduit is a worthwhile application to have.
Some Features
Conduit manages the synchronization and conversion of data into other formats. For example, conduit allows you to:
- Sync your tomboy notes to a file on a remote computer.
- Sync your emails to your mobile phone.
- Sync your bookmarks to delicious, gmail, or even your own webserver.
- Sync your photos to facebook, flickr, f-spot and your blog at the same time.
- Sync Evolution Calender to Google Calender and vice versa.
- Sync RSS feed items into my Calender.
- Sync local files to a remote server.
Install Conduit
First you need to download the conduit .deb package from here.Once you've downloaded the .deb package you should have the conduit_0.3.14-~getdeb1_all.deb file. You need to install this file using the command:
sudo dpkg -i conduit_0.3.14-0~getdeb1_all.deb
When you try to install you might get an error. To fix the above error run the Update Manager to install the Python dependenies; or use:
sudo aptitude -f install
This will complete the conduit installation.
Using Conduit
If you want to open conduit:Applications > Accessories > Conduit Synchroniser.
Conduit’s main window consists of two panes. The left pane contains a list of supported services (data providers), and the right pane (Canvas) is used to define synchronisation rules. Even in its current form, Conduit supports quite a few data providers, including the ever-popular Facebook, Tomboy, F-Spot, Box.net, Flickr, Gmail, and others. Conduit is capable of syncing individual files and folders. When working with different data providers, it’s important to keep in mind that not all of them support two-way synchronisation. A tiny blue arrow next to each data provider icon helps you determine whether the syncing can go both ways or not.
If you want to create a sync, click the folder item in the Dataproviders list and drag a provider onto the Canvas.
If you want to configure Flickr Right-click on Flickr and choose Configure Item.
Conduit provides a way to resolve synchronization conflicts, and you can configure its behavior in the Edit > Preferences dialog window under the Configuration tab
Issues
Syncing pictures from a local folder to flickr, the sync part works, but not as specified. When I configured the local folder it started to sync with flickr. I then realized that it wasn't syncing with the local folder at all, but, the parent folder for the one I was targeting. Essentially, I made a “flickr sync” folder in my pictures directory under my home folder. The flickr sync was working on the pictures folder, and not the sub folder I specified. Ironically syncing from the same folder to Facebook causes the exact same issue.
Now, I could have stopped pullling my hair out, if I just read the documentation. The rub behind this is the documentation is next to non-existent. The developers have failed to fully document the functions and how they work, either on the site or in the help file included with the software.
Final Thoughts
This program is more important than I’m sure most people realize, since it could be the next step to merging the web with local computers. Your entire life could be automatically and perpetually synced by this little program.
And thats why I love Conduit - despite the lack of documentation and some occasional odd behavior.
For more ideas on how to use Conduit, visit the screencast here.