[[!comment format=mdwn
 username="anarcat"
 avatar="http://cdn.libravatar.org/avatar/4ad594c1e13211c1ad9edb81ce5110b7"
 subject="sounds like the dumb backend, except not dumb"
 date="2017-04-08T20:21:41Z"
 content="""
This sounds a lot like what i was trying to do in
[[todo/dumb, unsafe, human-readable_backend]], except done properly. :)

I was wondering about that asymmetry recentrly, and it would seem like
a good idea to fix this. the `--to remote` flag could especially be
useful for directory, rsync or even webdav remotes. i am not sure how
this could be implemented, but i would certainly use this.

having addurl work would be an awesome bonus, especially with webdav,
where the mapping can be easily guessed (like S3). could be trickier
with rsync/directory because then the user would need to tell
git-annex what the base url is somewhere, but would fix a ton of use
cases i had for this, like [[forum/original filename on s3]],
[[forum/Facilitate public pretty S3 URLs]], [[todo/hide_missing_files]]
and, my favorite, [[forum/syncing music to my android device]].
it would also automate, extend and simplify the
[[tips/publishing_your_files_to_the_public/]] use case.

so thanks for this effort, i think it's a great idea and i'm excited
to test this! -- [[anarcat]]

"""]]