File sharing

[tharpa]

I want to share a folder with my Windows 8 computer. Is there a GUI to help with this?

Thanks.

[GJones]

Folder sharing on Linux is not simple from what I've seen, and much less so between Linux and Windows systems. There is Samba, but it is not easy to configure.

I hate to say this, but if you're looking for a GUI to configure transparent folder sharing, you probably won't find one (and if you do you probably shouldn't use it). You might want to find a different way to do whatever it is you're trying to do.

Good luck, in any case...

[gapan]

Easiest way would be to enable the ssh service in salix and then use winscp from windows. Otherwise, you'll have to setup samba. You should find tutorials online.

[GJones]

I'll also unhelpfully note here that the ease of doing things like transparent folder sharing between arbitrary Windows desktops is part of the reason for Windows' poor security reputation. There are some interesting exploits that rely on such conveniences.

[tharpa]

A couple more details. There are GUI's for Samba. Before recently switching to Salix, I used a GUI configuration interface for Samba on Mint. I don't remember it's name.

After posting this question, I discovered to my surprise that I am now able to connect to my Windows 8 share from Salix. I had never been able to connect to my Windows computer from Linux (unless you count my Mac). I'm not sure if the improvement was on Windows 8, Salix, or a combination of the two.

Nevertheless, I would still be interested in being able to connect to my Salix computer from Windows. When I get some time, I may give some of the above suggestions a try. At work, I do SSH to a Linux server from Windows using WinSCP (though I wasn't the one to set it up). I suppose that would be worth a try at home as well.