I thought of this after a recent trip with some friends. We shared the photos when we were still in person. But sometimes we need to share a lot of photos over the internet. In the past, we have used a shared google drive directory for this. But I’d prefer a self-hosted option. There should be some sort of password protection as well (ideally per share, and no need for accounts). One should be able to both access the current files and upload new ones, just like google drive or dropbox.
I currently have FileShelter, which works for 1-to-1 sharing but not for groups. I guess something like ProjectSend would work, but it’s too complex for my usecase. I’d prefer something more lightweight since I’ll maybe use it once every few months. Also, it should be noob-friendly, and accessible using a browser.
Update: I’m very happy with copyparty. It does what I want, and much much more. I even replaced my older webdav server with it since it provides more granular control over share locations and permissions. Kudos to the developer @tripflag@lemmy.world!
You’re kind of asking the wrong question.
Are there ways to share stuff with a group of people that are self-hosted? Absolutely.
Can you get security through those means? Not without some unified authentication.
Maybe back up a few steps and figure out specifically how much trouble you’re willing to go through for this. There’s a reason these photo sharing platforms exist with sharing and permissions.
I don’t care too much about security, since I’ll delete everything in a few days after copying them to my gallery. Then, I usually share a link with them to an album on my PhotoPrism instance. So, per share password is fine by me.
Then just start an Immich instance and share them that way. Easiest route if you want to make them browsable first.