ARaruggirello·Jan 23, 2026
I'm replacing Dropbox with Unison [0] over ssh, BTW. It's a great piece of software (multiplatform, and it even has a GUI).
[0] https://github.com/bcpierce00/unison
In What has Docker become?bcpierce00
unison
OCaml2017–2026
bcpierce00 / unison
unison
Unison file synchronizer
21Distinct people
24Mentions
2Explicit recommenders
5.6KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
Unison file synchronizer
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use was verified in the last source check.
What people are saying
I highly recommend Unison (https://github.com/bcpierce00/unison) It allows you to sync between 2 machines (bi-directional) over TCP or SSH. Note that TCP way is not encrypted,…
pvtmert used a recommendation phrase. 2 indexed comments match. This is a phrase match, not a verdict.
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Also in these discussions
- rocq-prover/rocq · linked in 2 of the same discussions
Mentioned in the same Hacker News threads. That is not proof they are substitutes.
This week on Hacker News
Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 3:56:07 PM UTC.
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HN mentions by year24 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2017-07-16 18:13:13 UTC to 2026-01-23 21:40:29 UTC.
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View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2018 | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2019 | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2020 | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2021 | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2022 | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 2023 | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 2024 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 7 | 1 | 6 |
| 2025 | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2026 (partial) | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
What Hacker News says
24 sourcesAt first I thought it was about this.
https://github.com/bcpierce00/unison
In Unison 1.0A related tool that I've found useful over the years is Unison [1]. Think of it as rsync where you can interactively adjust the reconciliation algorithm between the two sides of the sync connection. It stores a hash of the file contents from the previous run for each file, so it can work out whether each side has changed since the last run. It then presents you with a GUI (or TUI) to review and adjust the reconciliation.
For the periods of my career where I've lived the two computer life (desktop and laptop), I've used Unison to keep substantial parts of my home directory in sync between the two machines.
[1]: https://github.com/bcpierce00/unison
In RSyncUI – A SwiftUI based macOS GUI for rsyncThis setup eats your freshly created files if you forget to run the rsync command before switching to the other computer. Not so nice. Unison [1] can avoid that problem by having some state on each side. Therefore, it always knows whether a file was just created on machine A or whether it was deleted on machine B.
Everything else is almost the same with Unison compared to rsync. There is no P2P overlay network, everything goes through ssh. It uses the rsync algorithm to optimize the transfer of changes. It is run at specific times, not always in the background. Therefore, you know when synchronization is happening and when it is finished. Unison also has rules to map different path on each side and you can exclude by path, filename, and suffix, etc.
[1]: https://github.com/bcpierce00/unison
In How to sync Mac and Linux /homeAh I thought this was related to the trusty old Unison two-way file synchronisation tool and my heart skipped a beat. https://github.com/bcpierce00/unison/
In Unison CloudI was hoping this was like rsync.net, but for unison:
https://github.com/bcpierce00/unison
Trademarks are hard.
In Unison CloudIf you look at the release notes you can see that some versions say they are protocol compatible with prior X.Y version release
https://github.com/bcpierce00/unison/releases
But I have seen problems when one version was far ahead of the other
In Unison File SynchronizerI know there's only so many names in the world but this is going to completely ruin searches for the Unison file synchronizer: https://github.com/bcpierce00/unison
In Unison CloudYou might want to try Unison: https://github.com/bcpierce00/unison
I've been using it to great effect for over 10 years on a daily basis.
In Rclone syncs your files to cloud storageI highly recommend Unison (https://github.com/bcpierce00/unison)
It allows you to sync between 2 machines (bi-directional) over TCP or SSH.
Note that TCP way is not encrypted, you may use wireguard as transport layer encryption for that purpose...
You can use an external application to copy if file size is larger than an arbitrary number. (Eg: use rsync for files > 1gb)
In Ask HN: Best modern file transfer/synchronization protocol?I've tested a lot of file synchronization software. I rely via scripts on Unison, originally authored by the computer scientist Benjamin Pierce, and now decades of tweaking by a strong open source community.
https://github.com/bcpierce00/unison
I'd love to see Darke Files get everything right that Unison gets right, that nearly all commercial projects get wrong, through the usual blend of arrogance and ignorance:
* Meta data. It takes a lot to insure that two copies of a MacOS file appear identical to a user. There used to be a test suite on the web that embarrassed everybody.
* Atomic folders such as ".git" or an application bundle. A prototypical example is a MacOS sparse disk bundle, supported by a folder of many small files. This makes incremental backup and transfer more efficient, assuming a single source. Unison lets you specify th
Read the rest
e conflict resolution at the folder level, all-or-nothing decide which copy or fix it.
* Symbolic links. This is wildly complicated by users, sure they're right, who want special handling to hack features into sync software that aren't there. A symbolic link is just a file, with correct use the responsibility of the user. You wouldn't want sync software stopping to view your porn, right? They're just files, not the sync software's business.
I use Dropbox for various purposes because I need to, but they bungle more of this than one would expect. For example, a typical MacOS application bundle can have internal symbolic links a typical user never notices, pointing the "current" version of resources to a versioned folder. Last I checked, Dropbox expands the symbolic link into a redundant copy, wasting space without kneecapping the app.
One could go on... I've given up on reporting these issues, though the responses would make a hilarious blog post.
I've been using Unison [1] to sync two and more computers for years. I can't recommend it enough.
[1]: https://github.com/bcpierce00/unison
In DIY triple-screen laptop based on the frameworkHave a look at unison, it's what I use instead of Syncthing and I couldn't be more happy.
https://github.com/bcpierce00/unison
edit: Also, KeepassXC!
In LastPass breach gets worsehere are a few
- https://github.com/coq/coq
- https://github.com/mirage/mirage
- https://github.com/returntocorp/semgrep
- https://github.com/bcpierce00/unison
See https://v2.ocaml.org/learn/companies.html for some more leads, as lots of those companies maintain useful OSS software.
In OCaml 5.0 Multicore is outShowing the 15 most recent of 24 sources. Enable JavaScript to search and browse every indexed mention.