I think this is a very dangerous behavior of seafile that many users are not aware of.
A user creates a library that he wants to share with other users. He uploads new files and documents, deletes some files, uploads new files, deletes some other files, etc., until he is satisfied. Then he shares the library with other users. Sharing the library read-only is no probem, but if he shares the library read-write, all users will have access to the library’s trash and can access all documents, that the user has deleted before he shared the library. THIS IS VERY BAD!!! No-one thinks about deleting the trash before sharing a library. I think, it would be a good idea to automatically delete the trash if a library is shared.
I agree with you that the sharing of the trash bin has the potential of being a problem. I can picture situations in which this can lead to - let’s say - awkward situations. But is this a serious problem? Looking back, I don’t remember any complaints. Hence, empirically, it does not seem to be one.
I am 100% against an automatic purge of the trash bin when sharing a library. Automatic deletion is something I expect even less than I expect sharing the trash/history of a library when sharing a library. Also: In 99,9% of me sharing a library with someone, I would not want the trash to be deleted.
Sure, you could add a checkbox to the sharing dialog “Checkbox: Purge trash before sharing”. But given the experience so far, my guess is that this would be a big measure for a small problem. The best course of action is from my point of view proactive communication. In this vein, I can say as the author of the German manual at https://de.seafile.com/support/benutzer/anleitung/, I will include it in the next revision.
thanks for your thoughts. Maybe it’s a bit paranoid. You are right, it should be a matter of training people before they use seafile. Our customers work in education and administration, so there could be sensitive documents in their trash, that they might be sharing without knowing.
That’s a workaround of the issue. But I think it’s the responsability of seafile to inform/warn users when they create a library about this issue. That way every seafile user will become aware about this issue even if he didn’t attend an education session. Frankly I think most of the seafile users will not get any education and will fall into this issue.