Show HN: Dropbox Cleaner – prune old Dropbox backups with Bash

If your cron pushes DB dumps to Dropbox and they pile up, this Bash script prunes old backups while keeping the newest N files. Bash only, no Dropbox API. Read/clone: https://github.com/cre8llc/Dropbox-Cleaner

The algorithm: list files by mtime, keep the newest N, and delete files older than X days that aren’t in that keep set. Works in a client‑synced folder — zero API creds, no rate limits. Key tradeoff: it trusts local filesystem timestamps.

Real risks: sync lag and partial uploads can make you delete what’s still transferring. Quick fixes I’d add: use flock to serialize runs, upload to .part then mv, verify file size stable over 1–2 minutes, and add --dry-run + logging.

Takeaway: for solo ops and small agencies this is pragmatic — fewer moving parts beats premature API work. If you need server‑side atomicity or scale, switch to rclone or the Dropbox API. How do you handle retention for large backup fleets?