Slashdot Mirror
LimeWire Goes Open-Source
The famous Anonymous Coward writes: "I saw over on Gnutella News that LimeWire LLC announced that they're releasing the LimeWire codebase under the GPL license and that they've setup limewire.org as a site dedicated to Gnutella and LimeWire development. LimeWire's codebase is currently being used by two of the most popular Gnutella clients: LimeWire and SwapNut. As far as I know, this is the first time a formerly closed-source file-sharing codebase this popular has been open-sourced." gtk-gnutella is coming along nicely for Linux, but more competition is always better.
I've been using the Windows version for a while now.
They keep adding improvements fairly steadily. Each release is more stable and has better features than the last.
They really had nothing to lose going open source.
The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
limewire is one of my favorite gnutella clients, also the first decent windowed java app I've seen. I commend them for doing this, but have to wonder how this fits into there business plane. They just made a deal with File Metrics Inc to brand Limewire tech as SwapNut. but why would they make there source (read: IP) free if there business plane is to license there IP?
-Jon
this is my sig.
gtk-gnutella is coming along nicely for Linux, but more competition is always better.
No offense Michael, but I disagree. I don't know how it is with file sharing systems on Linux, but Windows is glutted with the things. I've used a few and my college roommate experimented with tons of the things. I don't want a lot of variety, I just want a simple interface and a simple system that finds what I want and is relatively lawsuit proof.
Google is the ideal for web searching and something approaching that caliber for file searching would be wonderful. Make it easy, stable to use, and uncomplicated, then get everyone to use it (or make it interoperable with other networks) so that you have the best chance of finding what you want.
I download Limewire (3.44MB vs 157k is a negligible difference these days) and unzip the distribution. Then I run a shell script that sets up the environment and runs the app where it sits. It takes a little time to fire up the JVM, but then it's just fine as far as speed goes.
With a GTK client, I have to compile and install it, then I get to run it.
I don't really see much advantage in either app over the other.
Junior high students at least go to the library and do a little research.
This is a trull. Ignore it.
N4st0r, trixx0r h0bb1tz0rz! Th3y st0l3 0ur pr3c10uzz!
The Linux download appears to be larger, but that must be something related to the Linux packaging (worse or no compression perhaps?).
"and just doesn't fit in with all the other UI apps I use (it won't follow themes or UI conventions). "
It's funny that you should mention this in a discussion on gui applications for linux. If there's such a thing as a standard look and feel for linux I have yet to encounter it. There's several desktop environments each of which come with their own widget sets, their own way of theming them, their own component models (if any at all) and their own look and feel. Generally you need all of them in order to run common desktop applications. There's no way you can target all those environments as a programmer. And applications written for one environment integrate extremely poor with the other environments (beyond the point of being able to display the user interface).
With Java you want to abstract away from it all so that it works on all platforms. That means you can't rely on native things to work consistently everywhere.
Limewire has achieved that. It's a simple, elegantly designed UI that works the same on each platform. Most of the native competitors pale in comparison and look clumsy when compared. It being crossplatform is vital since gnutella works better if there are more hosts that share files. The limewire people just have to design the GUI once and can focus on adding new features (which they do).
Admittedly there's a problem with integration with the native platform. However, on linux it is absolutely unclear what exactly this native platform is. Should sun integrate the JDK with Gnome, with KDE, with motif with X? Should they create separate jdk's for each environment? What about versions of each environment? The problem is that there is no standard and consequently all sun can do is target the most common denominator. They don't have that problem on mac os X or win32. The JDKs on these platforms generally integrate much nicer. They use file dialogs, the printing facilities, the native 3d, 2d and multimedia libraries, the clipboard and so on. Achieving the same on linux is nearly impossible since there are multiple implementations of each of those components. However, that is a linux problem and not a java problem. IMHO this is the primary reason that linux on the desktop is still not happening outside the developer community. Also I am very pessimistic about these issues being addressed in the near future.
Jilles
QTELLA.
size below 200 k nice interface (like limewire but prettier -> KDE2 conforming)
Screenshots here!
Has all the features one would need. Of course it is a lot faster than Limewire.
Finally one thin I would like to see: A pure and true gnutella server daemon. No GUI. No nothing. Even gnut requires logging in. So how can I start a gnutella client by ssh? How do I control it ? Not possible, the program clkoses as soon as I drop the ssh connection. Now that would be a nice feature in a gnutella client.
Moritz
In the spirit of free-as-in-chaos, I have instituted my own private moderation system. Under this system, I hereby give you -1 for CannedText.
How many times are you going to post this silly FUD? You could at least write something fresh each time, and rise to the status of FlameBait.
-- MarkusQ
Beta == Complete, but not heavily tested software. It may contain bugs, it its supposed not to do so.
What's your point? Didn't have the guts to compare to an NT-kernel based Windows?
Comparing NT to linux...
But Linux can run on handleds to IBM supercomputers
"Microsoft sponsering Windows helps improving it"
I think you did not get it. Sun distributes some set of standard tools (c compiler, shells, etc). Where most of the Sun admins do not use their Sun versions but install GNU versions instead. because they are more robust, they have more features. This is like everyone installing WinAmp instead of WM7 crap, because it loads faster and it has more features.
The steep learning curve compared to about any other operating system out there is a major factor in Linux' cost.
Sadly, true. Unfortunately, you can't fix it without admitting that there is a problem, and I haven't had any luck convincing anyone that Linux has serious user-friendliness flaws. Can't see the forest for the trees, I suppose...
Linux requires a *lot* of maintenance, work doable only by the relatively few high-paid Linux administrators that put themselves - of course willingly - at a great place in the market.
Bullshit, plain and simple. Get the services installed, leave everything else off and the systems just run. Witness our RADIUS server, numerous fileservers and firewalls (all with hundreds of days of uptime and the only maintenance is a script which rotates logfiles and emails unusual activity) -- all with hundreds of days of uptime.
Like any other OS, the admin is responsible for monitoring the security mailing lists and installing patches. And like any other OS, you get what you pay for in an admin.
Linux' native file system, EXT2FS, is known to lose data like a firehose spouts water when the file system isn't unmounted properly.
That's a bold-faced flat-out lie. I run Linux on this laptop and have NUMEROUSLY had the volume level down too low to hear the battery alarm crying out. I've lost power at least three or four dozen times this year with no data loss.
Where EXT2 does lose data badly is when the metadata store gets corrupted (power dies when it's being updated or the drive gets bad sectors in those areas) -- However I also know that Reiser, NTFS and VFAT will die horribly under those cirumcstances too.
Factor in also the fact that crashes happen much more often on Linux than on other unices.
Let's see some hard numbers. I've been running 2.2.x kernels for literally YEARS without crashes. Quit running alpha drivers and unstable kernels and your stability will increase. This is just common sense.
The steep learning curve compared to about any other operating system out there is a major factor in Linux' cost.
So you consider a Win32 admin someone who can go to windowsupdate.microsoft.com? Or a SCO admin someone who can call the support hotline they pay for? I don't understand (nor have you given proof) for increased TCO for Linux.
(an aside: The Code Red fix wasn't included in any patches available from there. So whose fault is that, Microsoft for not making security a priority, or the click-happy "admin" for not knowing better?)
I could go on and on and on, but the conclusion is clear. Linux is not an option for any one who seeks a professional OS with high performance, scalability, stability, adherence to standards, etc.
I dunno, I've had no problems setting up and casually[1] admining firewalls, SMTP/IMAP/POP servers, LDAP servers, web servers and plain old fileservers. Like I said, once it is up and running, there is next to zero maintenance. This can be done with any unix; For me, Linux makes the most sense and none of my clients have had complaints about "increased costs of their Linux servers." I don't know whether you're a Win2k, SCO, Sun, QNX or *BSD troll, and frankly I don't care. Your post is so full of shit that I just had to feed you. FUD is FUD.
[1] - I use the term "casually admin" to describe what I do: monitor the security lists, provide updates as necessary and receive the emailled logs. The only time I ssh in is to change the configuration based on a customer's request or perform security updates. To me, this is exactly what server administration should be.
Ain't diversity grand? :)
One thing I've always wanted was to just specify a file and leave it to go get it and download it itself.
In particular if 5 sites have the file I should be able to connect to all 5 of them (or try to) and download different parts of the file in parallel; the protocol allows you to start wherever you want to.
The total load on the network is the same because I'm only connected to each server for 1/5 the time, but I would usually get it faster.
Of course sometimes, one of the files is corrupted or something- it's possible to check the ends of the fragments and splice them correctly or ignore any bits that don't fit.
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!">(bearshare permanently monitors your internet
> usage with backgroud tasks).
No it doesn't, and that statement is pure FUD.
The third party programs included with BearShare are optional (all you have to do is un-check the checkboxes during installation) and they do not monitor your internet usage any more than Macromedia does. When you visit a web page with Flash content, the Flash plugin "knows" this and displays the movie. Similarly, when you visit a web page which is cooperating with one of BearShare's third party programs, the program "knows" this and displays an ad.
For the last fucking time, Onflow does not send your browser history to the NSA! Please stop spreading paranoia.
Shaun
Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
Only temporary variable names are lost, unless the author used a scrambling program. Class, field and method names are preserved, because the link process for Java occurs at load time, and they are needed for this.
LimeWire, being a java app, was halfway open source already.
It's illegal (or at least ignorant) comments like this that give the open source movement a bad name. By your reasoning, every OS and binary ever released is halfway to open source, since it disassembles easily into assembly code. And plenty of people are fluent in assembly to take the "project" over from there.
Being "open" takes intent on the part of the creator/releaser/licenser.