Looks like Copy is going to same way as Ubuntu One https://blog.barracuda.com/2016/02/01/message-from-gm-of-storage/
Sad really, I always used it over Dropbox and Ubuntu One. Some cool features, Linux support from day 1 and less obtrusive than Dropbox.
I too was hit by this…
I was perfectly happy with Ubuntu One integrated with Ubuntu, then shut down.
I moved to Copy, was equally happy with them…gone.
Now I’m with Mega.nz and I hear the writing is on the wall for them.
I’m guessing I’ll have to go with a self hosted solution because this is going to happen over and over again.
It is. I have both my own server (which copies stuff with syncthing, and the backups go there too), and Dropbox; Dropbox, being the popularity leader, isn’t in much danger of shutting down right now, but it’s always best to not be vulnerable to that…
I prefer my own ownCloud server. I know that if it gets screwed up it’ll be because of my own fault and only my own. It’s a liberating thought for me, somehow… Yes, and I’ve screwed the server up more than once…
Certainly running your own thing has benefits. But there are also deficits; you have to be a sysadmin; you have to care if the discs die; etc. I’m sure that pro car mechanics never worry if their local garage shuts down either…
The way I get around that is by using a vps (with an automated local backup). Fairly low cost and I don’t need to worry quite so much about the drives on the server dying. If it happens… restoring and getting up and running again is cake.
Oh, as in, say, a Bytemark or Digital Ocean or whatever machine? So you push backups out to there, and then pull them back down to some local storage as a last-ditch backup? Do you pay for this remote VM just for backups, or were you using it anyway to host websites or whatever and then thought, ahaha, I can use it for backups as well?
Exactly. A simple little virtual machine to call my own. I’ve got two of them right now.
Basically, yeah! So I’ve got two VPS’s running. One is running OwnCloud. That’s the primary one I sync to everywhere. The other VPS is running a bunch of stuff… but also keeps a running backup of my OwnCloud drive. Then I also have it synced to a drive here at my place. Three backups in three different countries.
When I started this route I already had a server setup (running my old BBS and a few other things). So I just used that. As time went on I had a handful of reasons to set up the second server (which I think I pay all of about $15/month for) and having a secondary backup of my main online storage was one of those reasons.
It’s ended up working rather nicely. Doesn’t cost me much (since I wanted the servers for other uses anyway) and I get to feel a bit more confident about my data.
I am doing the exact thing, more power to taking control of personal digital content! There are also extensions in OwnCloud to allow you to backup to Amazon S3 or some other external disk (encrypted of course), but it will probably be cheaper to go with two VPS host solution.
But I do see @sil point in having to maintain the server. Updates with OwnCloud have sometimes gone bad (fewer rather than before), so I could not say this is a one fits all. You also have to have good security measures as you have to now protect your own data. People trying to steal pictures of my cat…
Speaking of upgrade problems, we’re experiencing a very nasty issue with the 9.0.1->9.0.2 upgrade, because of a conflict with the file encryption application… It’s so nasty that ownCloud has been forced to deactivate the possibility of doing that 9.0.1->9.0.2 upgrade (9.0.2 is currently available only for new installations).
If you want to have a server of your own you must develop certain sysadmin skills. I’m finding the experience really fun, even though frustrating at some points, but definitely recommended if you really like tinkering with stuff and want to learn how to keep a system running. Not for everybody, of course, but at least you should try to know whether it is for you or not (IMHO).
I wholeheartedly agree, if you got the skills and the time for it, it is an awesome solution. But this is not the first time that an upgrade has compromised user data, so as with many open source solutions, it becomes the individual’s responsibility.
At least unlike Ubuntu One or Copy, even if OwnCloud was to go under, your data would not disappear with them. Reminds me of a previous episode about reliance on cloud based services… 
I’ve been using the open source Sandstorm.io service for the file storage I used to do with Ubuntu One. You can host your own instance or use their subscription service. To over-simplify, it makes web server applications into sandboxed apps that you can install on your own server with a few clicks. https://github.com/sandstorm-io/sandstorm
(I have no formal affiliation with the Sandstorm developers, but if this post comes across too much like spam please delete it or ask me to do it.)
Recommending stuff that you have personally used and with which you’re not affiliated is not and will not ever be spam