IdeaSift

Developers lack simple ways to move data between machines

IT teams and developers need to move selected files, binary streams, or disk data between networked machines, but the requests show several workflow gaps: explicit file lists, cross-platform program-to-program transfer, and reaching machines with restricted network access. One requester described resorting to multiple SSH tunnel hops, while another wanted file selection beyond the filters available in their tools. Network disk imaging and intercepting file writes are related but more specialized needs.

For IT teams and developers moving data between machines. Mentioned from Oct 2023 to Sep 2025 on Hacker News and Stack Exchange.

5 different people described this problem in 5 separate discussions.

Week of 2026-07-13: 0Week of 2026-07-20: 0Week of 2026-07-27: 0Week of 2026-08-03: 0Week of 2026-08-10: 0Week of 2026-08-17: 0Week of 2026-08-24: 0Week of 2026-08-31: 0Week of 2026-09-07: 0Week of 2026-09-14: 0Week of 2026-09-21: 0Week of 2026-09-28: 0
0 mentions in the last 12 weeks
Indie fit
4.0/10
Pain
6.4/10
Frequency
6.5/10
Willingness to pay
0.0/10
Momentum
5.0/10
Who pays
Businesses
Competition
High
Build difficulty
Medium

What people said

Quoted word for word. Follow a link to read the whole discussion.

  1. I am struggling to find software that will allow me to provide a file list, and the software copy those files
  2. I was just the other day looking for a tool to easily move a non-sensitive file from my macbook, to my network-locked production machine. Rather than doing many hops through SSH tunnels, the easiest thing to do would be to host the file online, and wget it down to my linux machine
    matthewtse on Hacker NewsSep 2025Asked for a toolHas a workaround
Build brief

See what to build and who will buy it

  • 1 product idea with the smallest useful version and pricing
  • 4 places to find your first customers
  • 3 more quotes from people who have this problem
  • Current workarounds, existing solutions and risks