The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/cyrilmezza on 2025-02-17 09:52:18.
I've been the unofficial photographer for my family for years (film then digital, so I'm old...), have tons of files and keep them mostly to myself (I would regularly transfer some to my parents' computer while they were alive and had desktops), but occasionally I leave some on a shared drive. Now, with my sisters and their children, everyone has a laptop or a smartphone. I'm not the only one who can take decent pictures, and beside the occasional one sent via Whatsapp and Co., there's not much sharing from their side.
My idea is to create a shared repository, where anyone could easily drop their favorite pictures of themselves or siblings, so that we could use as slideshows (alexa), prints and whatnot. No need for something 100% automated, I can deal occasionally with updating the folders for the Alexas and Google homes, the main thing is a repository accessible from inside the LAN, and from the palm of their hands (mostly Android) wherever they are (some have left the nest, and not everyone lives under the same roof)
I use Syncthing on my own phone with great success, but I would not suggest that to my nieces and nephews; ideally they would share one or more pictures of their choosing right from their phone (or laptop), with as little friction as possible. They are not dumb or tech illiterate, I'd just like to make it simple.
What tools do I already have ? 2 Synology NASes (2 homes with Fiber internet, that I manage myself, including firewalls) with TBs of free space, no yet open to the outside world, OneDrive account with 1TB, Amazon Photos (Prime), and free Google accounts.
I'm looking for a self hosted, or at least self managed (cloud/hybrid) solution, but I don't mind paying a little something (perpetual rather than subscription to a new service) for a commercial solution if there's a great App for that out there...