Slashdot Mirror
File Sharing: Decentralizing, Open-Source Fasttrack
Eloquence writes: "I've written a comparison of current file sharing software; what's interesting is that the original centralized indexing concepts are losing ground because of filters, and most relevant file sharing systems by now use at least a server-network, or a completely decentralized architecture. Unfortunately, most networks are proprietary, but at least there is now an open-source client to access the most popular network, Fasttrack's Kazaa/Morpheus, which was originally only accessible under Windows (around 500,000 users online at any time)."
I have to say I'm impressed. There is a reason that the only previous FastTrack clients were fr Windows: FastTrack is a closed source C++ based protocol stack that only exists for that operating system. FastTrack's livelihood is dependent upon licensing that stack to developers and hence keeping the protocol proprietary. That someone has reverse engineered it quite successfully is highly impressive and also a little worrisome if you're FastTrack. I'm surprised we haven't heard a lot more about this and FastTrack's response.
I think there is a world market for maybe five personal web logs.
The current model of the Internet is not something that is going to surive the rigors of foolish governments, panicky interest groups, and greedy corporations. As we've seen time after time again, having single points of failure knocked out (regulation, threats, lawsuits, etc), we lose SO much information. Thanks to recent terrorist activities, we're going to find our bastions of freedom online gradually removed by people who honestly don't know any better.
:)
Peer2Peer, I think, is a powerful solution for us to retain the freedoms we currently enjoy on the Net. Certainly P2P helps save us from Napster-like lawsuits regarding copyrighted material. However, can we take it further? Can we deliver web page content in the P2P model, for starters? Could we move all of our Internet services to this model? Consider a world where we start using technologies that prevent any central source of information/data/etc. from being stamped out by the ignorant.
I'm basically describing a model where when a source, be it a group or an individual, publishes something, it is in the network forever. Regardless of what happens to that source, tens of thousands of other machines will always be carrying that forbidden data. It couldn't be stopped. Sure we'd gather up massive amounts of garbage and quickly antiquated material, but every piece of knowledge out there is bound to be of value to at least somebody.
P2P could bring about the global consciousness that the Internet was meant to be. Lucky for us, you can't kill a brain by trashing a few neurons.
Why bother.
It's called Netmess, (http://netmess.multimania.com).
It works through HTTP proxy (at work), is able to resume downloads from clones on other nodes, share evrything, and works under linux too.
Espra.net Music sharing over freenet.
As a student at the university of Maine, I've noticed this year that the ds3 pair coming out of portland up here has been so incredibly saturated since everyone has arrived, I can't get much better than 56k-like connections to most internet sites. I, like many many many other people up here right now blame P2P programs, specifically Kazaa, for this massive traffic increase this year. At this point I'm so frustrated with it that I'd rather just see the RIAA and the MPAA bring down P2P because the traffic it generates ultimately ruins everyone's connection. It doesn't really have a "useful" use anyhow. At least I have I2 connectivity up here, so I can get SOME things at a reasonable speed.