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Comment by darkpuma | Hacker News Reader

If this is yours, I recommend adopting some sort of inverse relationship between file size and retention time. 0x0 does this and I think it makes a lot of sense: https://0x0.st/

    retention = min_age + (-max_age + min_age) * pow((file_size / max_size - 1), 3)

   days
    365 |  \
        |   \
        |    \
        |     \
        |      \
        |       \
        |        ..
        |          \
  197.5 | ----------..-------------------------------------------
        |             ..
        |               \
        |                ..
        |                  ...
        |                     ..
        |                       ...
        |                          ....
        |                              ......
     30 |                                    ....................
          0                        256                        512
                                                              MiB

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I can totally write a script to divide my large files into smaller parts before uploading. That way I will get unlimited storage?

> That way I will get unlimited storage?

No. That way fill up his hard drive, break the server and ruin it for everybody. Don't be that guy.

I think GP gets that, and is pointing out a potential problem. Your solution of not being an asshole works for small groups, but not the entire internet.

Why?

I don't see what the correlation is between a user's file size and how long the user will need it to remain.

Generally people use these services to host a file for around the time it takes someone to check their e-mail/ticket/etc. to download the item -- hopefully within a day, usually a couple days, worst-case scenario a week.

The time-cutoff is based on human behavior.

Plus, it's too much mental overhead for a user to have to worry that each file uploaded lasts for a different amount of time.

For a host providing a free service that they have to pay actual money to run, and having a finite & non-advertised limit on disk space, it makes sense to put a heavier mental price on large files, so that a 1GB upload actually does feel heavier to the user than a 1KB upload.

I think it is to cut the host's cost on disk ? Not necessary for the benefit of user.

> Why?

The current policy of 25GB for seven days is very generous, but I fear it will prove unsustainable.

Did you type this graph out by hand?

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