Google drive for linux - Pros and Cons of Insync

Background:

I've been hopeful about Insync for years, but until about a 9 months ago it wasn't ready for everyday use.

I'd been a beta tester since at least 2011 as I really wanted to get my company off of our Dropbox subscription and move to Google cloud storage as there were always collisions between files that were being collaboratively worked on and shared in Dropbox, and SVN was too complicated for my CEO.

Beta experience:

Versions prior to 0.08 were really unstable, and Google's revision control would often make a mess out of things.  0.08 cleaned up most of this and by version 0.09 it was rock solid! and I was syncing 3 Google accounts (work, household, and personal).  When I got the warning that I'd have to pay, but that I'd actually have to re-download everything to up grade I knew I wanted to opt out until that wasn't the case (I was syncing over 7 GB of files across 3 computers).   I figured my next employer could pick up the tab of purchasing the version 1 client on the machine they'd assign me, and I'd try it then, and if it was way better or the 0.09 client messed up to the point where I needed to re-download everything anyway I'd upgrade.   Moreover they claimed the version 1.2 client was slated to allow an upgrade with out a full download.

Unfortunately, around this time Insync was added to the Ubuntu repositories, and during a routine software updates I was upgraded to the version 0.10 beta client that had a 15 day limit before a pro account was needed.  Worse yet, it was missing some core dependencies and was not functioning.  And when I tried to downgrade things just got so messed.  I posted in the insync forms and they, of course, recommended the new paid 1.0 client.  Moreover I couldn't even find the 0.09 beta client packages to try a reinstall on my own.  I was a bit upset about how I was forced into an upgrade, but as I was working on resumes couldn't afford to waist any more time trouble shooting and finally bought a license for one of my accounts.

That said, I've utilized support a few more times since the upgrade, so I can't help but feel like paying for a license was the right move.

Moreover, support is supper responsive, and other than getting screwed by the Ubuntu repo maintainer, I have no other complaints.

The new client:

Thew new client is rock solid and integrates well Ubuntu based distributions.  I like the mate client.  The arch client still needs some work.  In Openbox if you leave notifications on they tend to take over your screen (are way to large).  Also the documentation for installing Insync required aggregating a bit information first (I'm new to arch and don't fully grasp AUR yet).  Yes, there is still an occasional bug, but an upgrade to the latest client no longer requires a full re-download of your file system and usually fixes most problems.

See my post here for how to install insync in Arch.

For debian systems, just use apt-get or synaptic.