Strongspace for Basecamp? Not if you can avoid it.

I am about to move and most likely rid myself of the box that currently hosts my Basecamp SFTP file server, and since I’m a big fan of paying my way out of having to do sysadmin work, I figured I’d give Strongspace a try. Bad idea.

So the core problem with that idea isn’t really with Strongspace, it’s with Basecamp: It doesn’t let you move the files. I scp’d all the existing files over to Strongspace, then updated the settings in Basecamp, but then Basecamp insisted on pointing all the old files over to the old server. Bah!

Also, Strongspace is really slow. It least it was for me today. What am I paying for, exactly?

Then there’s the problem of users. Your Basecamp users, will have to have another set of accounts. You can’t use HTTP auth or anything like that. Bah!

But the final straw was that then because of Basecamp sticking with a URL forever, I’d essentially be locked-in to Strongspace. No thanks. I’m canceling.

Now if only I could get my $8 back, but no, they don’t do that either. No “try before you buy” with Strongspace. Bah!

Bottom line: Use your own server, or find a friend with a server you can use. Anything is better than this.