I've been using file sharing to transfer files over to my new Mac, and I noticed that within the public folder under my network, there's a folder called "Drop Box". I understand that the purpose of this folder is to share files, but what is the purpose of having this within your shared public folder when you already have the public folder itself?
The drop box folder provides a way to give files to that User which owns that drop box folder. There may be instances when data must shared between certain users, but also must be kept secure from other user accounts on the Mac. This is one mechanism for doing that.
A file dropped into the Public folder becomes that, a file accessible to any user account.
A file dropped into the Drop Box folder nested within a Public folder now becomes owned by that User and cannot be accessed by others.
This is typically less important for a Mac owned by a single user or even a family, but Macs are also used in multi-user business environments where this would be especially useful.
The drop box folder provides a way to give files to that User which owns that drop box folder. There may be instances when data must shared between certain users, but also must be kept secure from other user accounts on the Mac. This is one mechanism for doing that.
A file dropped into the Public folder becomes that, a file accessible to any user account.
A file dropped into the Drop Box folder nested within a Public folder now becomes owned by that User and cannot be accessed by others.
This is typically less important for a Mac owned by a single user or even a family, but Macs are also used in multi-user business environments where this would be especially useful.
I believe the OP is referring to the Drop Box folder within any user's Public folder, rather than the folder provided by the DropBox application.
Hopefully, you're not relying on DropBox to transfer all your files to your new Mac? Is there a reason you'd be doing it this way instead of using Migration Assistant from your old Mac or Windows computer?
First. you need to understand what DropBox actually is and does: https://www.dropbox.com/features
Do you need to use the "Drop Box" folder in your shared public folder to share files?
