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Graphite — Decentralized and encrypted alternative to Google docs
Graphite is a secure, private, and simple productivity suite alternative to Google's G-Suite and Dropbox. Own your encryption keys, own your data.
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Justin Hunter
Maker
Hi! I'm Justin the founder of Graphite, and I want you to stop using Google.
Thanks for hunting, Kiran!
Graphite is powered by Blockstack and is a decentralized and encrypted alternative to Google's G-Suite. We've started with Documents, Spreadsheets, Contacts, and Conversations, but we will be adding more features to continue to make the transition from Google as easy as possible. This includes a mobile release and real-time collaboration very soon.
I've been a writer my entire life and for the last half-dozen years or so, I've stored all of my fiction, non-fiction, notes, and more on Google Docs. That started freaking me out. With Google controlling so much of what I was passionate about, I realized I should actually be the owner of my data, the owner of my creations. So, I started building Graphite for myself.
Google and other centralized services have long sold the idea that for a user to have the convenience of cloud computing, they had to give up just a little bit of their privacy. And then a little more. And then a little more, until eventually, nothing was private. But I believe the convenience of cloud computing is possible with decentralized, zero-knowledge applications. Graphite hopes to prove that.
Can't wait to see what you all think!
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@jehunter5811 I love the idea might start using this to rock my spreadsheets on assumptions and data the rockstar way. Congrats Justin, I will leave a review as soon as I get my hands on it.
Maker
@mateomorrison Thanks, Mateo! I'd love to get your thoughts once you try Graphite out.
Maker
@hugowoodhead No, definitely not! That's the beauty of Blockstack's infrastructure. They have a virtual chain that sits on top of the Bitcoin Blockchain. The only information that ends up being written to the blockchain is a zonefile tied to the user's Blockstack ID. This zonefile is very similar to DNS records on the traditional web but applies to individual users. That's what allows the creation of an identity that you own, not some other company or government. It also allows the creation of encryption keys (which I'll talk about a bit below). But the files you create in Graphite are not stored on the blockchain (nor should they ever be).
Storage then takes place on your own personal cloud. You can (and should) replicate your data across multiple storage providers. What Graphite and Blockstack allow is for those storage providers to become nothing more than dumb drives. With client-side encryption before storage happens, the storage providers you use couldn't snoop around in your files if they wanted to. The way I like to think of this is like the old days of running desktop software or even command line software that just stored your files locally. Except with this, you still have the convenience of what the cloud computing world has been providing for the last dozen or so year.
Let me know if you have additional questions!
Hey there! Looks like graphite just had a release that allows this! https://twitter.com/graphitedocs...
Maker
Not sure who gets updates (if anyone), but for anyone who stumbles across this, Graphite has come a long way in the last 15 months! Today, a new marketing site launched that is designed to be significantly more focused. Graphite is free, but now it also has a Pro option available for organizations that want to collaborate as a team.
Check out the Product Hunt post on Graphite Pro here:
https://www.producthunt.com/post...
Check out the new marketing site at:
https://graphitedocs.com
I'm so excited about the new marketing site and the Pro features that the first 50 organizations to sign up for Graphite Pro will get it for 6 months for free! All you need to do is sign in/sign up here: https://app.graphitedocs.com. Once you've done that go to https://app.graphitedocs.com/trial.
Ignore the 30-day free trial. I'll email everyone who signs up and qualifies for the 6-month offer.
As usual, please let me know if you have any questions or feedback!
Really nice to see valuable, tangible applications from the blockchain coming to everyday applications. Excited to watch this grow — big things coming!
It’s Open Source! Great opportunity to collaborate
Pros:- Google has shown again and again with G Suite that your diary is their training data. Graphite is the tool we needed a decade ago.
Cons:Could use some help with more document editing options