> data out
You can use our Desktop app[1] or CLI[2] to export your data, incrementally. There's a toggle within our Desktop app that will perform this operation continuously into a directory of your choosing. You can of course script the CLI however you'd like.
There is no data-loss, you export what you import.
> clients are not open source
Our clients have always been open source. You can find them within our monorepo here[3].
Currently you have to pass a flag at build time to configure the endpoint, but there's a discussion[4] to add an option in-app instead.
> Immich and Photoprism
Ente comes with e2ee[5] and replication strategies[6]. The former means that we've to run ML on the Edge, while Immich and Photoprism can run ML on their servers. If your primary use case is self-hosting, Immich is the more "intelligent" option. If you value convenience, Ente is the one.
[1]: https://ente.io/downloads/desktop
[2]: https://github.com/ente-io/cli
[3]: https://github.com/ente-io/ente
[4]: https://github.com/ente-io/ente/discussions/504
Just to jump in cause I was curious myself. I think your question is answered here:
"Command Line Utility for exporting data from Ente"
So, I am traditionally somebody who self hosts a lot of stuff. I am not allergic to paying a fee to have something hosted by someone else - but one of my conditions to doing this is that there is an easy way to migrate away from the cloud offering should I choose to in the future.
To give an example, I use Tailscale HEAVILY right across all my self hosted stuff. It is absolutely central to everything I do - and I'd find it very hard to live without it. I am totally comfortable with this because Headscale exists, which is an open source implementation of Tailscale. If for some reason Tailscale starts making decisions I don't like, or perhaps the pricing changes in a way I am not a fan of, I have the option of trading some convenience.
I am really happy to see your server is open source. That is amazing news, and makes me feel a lot more interested in your product. I wanted to ask a few questions though:
* Let's say I've signed up with your service, and am hosting a bunch of stuff with you. I decide after 6 months I don't like some changes to the pricing model or something. How does one get their data out of the `cloud` ente.io - and into a self hosted instance of the server? Is there any data loss during this process?
* Your clients are not open source. I totally understand this. Do they however support talking to a different backend (like for example a self hosted Ente instance)?
* And finally - how would you say your tool compares to the two main open source Google Photos replacements, Immich and Photoprism?