Slashdot Mirror
Ask Bram Cohen about BitTorrent
It's a clever P2P 'information broadcasting' concept, as the simple diagram on the BitTorrent home page shows. It's gotten a fair amount of notice, especially here on Slashdot. And reader Ignorant Aardvark wrote to us about BitTorrent sites disappearing, possibly because of RIAA/MPAA intervention, so this technology is now generating some controversy as well. The person behind BitTorrent is Bram Cohen, and he's agreed to answer 10 of the highest-moderated questions about BitTorrent you post here. So ask away (after reading the project FAQ and other info about BitTorrent and Bram, of course). We'll run Bram's answers as soon as he emails them back to us.
Bram,
Do you have any plans for improvements to BitTorrent to improve some of its (few) weaknesses, such as searching for torrent files, bandwidth usage by trackers and inability to download if the tracker goes off the air?
Are you taking any precautions for your clash with the RIAA/MPAA?
Useless sig.
Do you feel that BitTorrent's core functionality can one day be integrated in the operating system as a file system? The ability to share files among disparate systems in remote locations can be seen as extension of what was started with HTML, et. al.
As the person with the most in-depth knowledge of BitTorrent, what do you see are the weaknesses of the BitTorrent model?
As more and more ISP's subscribe to the theory that a consumer does need as much upload bandwidth as download(as seen in the current cable modem/DSL industry), how will Bittorrent scale to meet the problems it was set out to correct? It seems to me that it would severly limit the benefits of having an application of this nature.
Slightly less obvious, but as interesting is what do you think of what people have done with what you have created. I'm sure you might be sick of people asking you how to obtain a torrent for the latest movie, but are you troubled that it is being used for copyright infringement? Pleased? Apathetic?
Do you wish that it was used more for distributing legal ISOs and other files? If so, do you believe you should promote it more for this purpose or promote development of tools to push it in this direction (perhaps automatic creation of torrents on a successful build, etc.).
BitTorrent has seen a wide array of usage since it debuted. Many have been surprising and it has caught the fire that makes sofwtare a success. How do you personally measure the success of BitTorrent? Has it achieved the goals you first set?
Popular tracker sites (where you submite a .torrent, and it modifies it and becomes the primary tracker) seem to have a scaling issue. I won't mention the site but their are trackers that get 2,000,000 hits a day, and 50k-65k visitors. Trying to download a torrent tracked by an overused tracker such as this one, can be frustrating. While bigger/faster hardware is a temporary solution, what other options exist for scaling trackers better?
.torrent could have an array of tracker sites, that seemed like a quick and easy hack to get some scalability, have you seen or thought of any others?
Now, I'll also say, I wonder about performance of PHP trackers (as this one is).
I also saw some place where you mentioned the should use round-robin DNS for the tracker host to "scale". This isn't a good solution though, as any network engineer who runs a large internet accessible website will tell you. Cachine of DNS records make round-robin not as effective as it needs to be.
I saw a suggestion where a
-malakai
-Malakai
A Dragon Lives in my Garage
Now that the product is in a semi-usable state, has the decision been made to feature-freeze and to focus on quality control? Running the OSX client turns my iBook to mush. The linux client brings my dual AMD MP system to its knees. I love getting large files (ie: ISOs) at great speeds, but when it renders my computer useless for the duration of the download it ceases to be useful.
read his resume. I think you will find that your question is answered there.
He seems to like JavaSCRIPT, Python, and not much C/C++.
You've got a paypal dontation button to help compensate you for your non-trivial expenditure of time...how well is that working? Is it an adequate revenue stream, or just enough for a pizza or two?
"Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."
Bram,
0 5/27/133822 3&mode=thread&tid=188&tid=97
:)
Do you feel you might be a target of litigation or any sort of legal action because you're the "point" person for this project? Stories like these prompted my question:
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/
It looks like the media companies are looking for someone to "drag over the coals."
You've been asked on the mailing list a couple of times, and I haven't seen an answer.
:)
What are your plans for the future direction of BitTorrent? Do you have any plans to design a protocol to enable trackers to coordinate? Any plans to enable BitTorrent to dynamically start sharing a file from an "upload" directory, based on distributed searches? In other words, are you interested in making BitTorrent a "full-service" P2P app in the style of Kazaa, etc...? Or are you happy with the functionality as it is?
Or are you perhaps waiting for the BitTorrent community to start chipping in some of the work, rather than leaving you to do all of it?
(Note: I'm not saying that it's somehow insufficient the way it is. I'm really just curious about what your plans are. One thing that keeps me from attempting to help with coding at all is that I have no idea where BitTorrent is headed, or if you even want any code contributions at this point.)
Have you had any talks with akamai or download.com or other big players about possible partnerships? Do you see money in your future?
I'd like to hear your stance on the unofficial BitTorrent clients that are showing up. Some of these clients do more than just present a more user-friendly interface, they allow people to tweak some settings, most notably throttling their upload speeds.
Since BitTorrent's model of "everyone sharing the same data" is fundamental to it's success, it seems like a client that selfishly restricts re-uploading is the complete opposite of the BitTorrent philosophy.
Any thoughts on future changes to eliminate or minimize this kind of cheating?
Cinsidering the system wasn't originally designed to be a music / movie swapping system, would you have any qualms with working with, rather than against, the record and movie industry to make the program less contraversial? What are your views on their attitude towards Biotorrent (IE: Do you think they'll ever make compramises with those that make these systems) Sorry if that question is too long / complicated, but it could be interesting.
Yup...
For situations like I am in (behind a corporate firewall), there is little chance of getting permission to poke a hole for BT.
However, it is just at the edge of feasibility to set up a bastion host running some form of BT proxy, whereby the basition runs BT, and the clients inside connect to the BT proxy via a web interface.
Has any thought been given to something like that?
www.eFax.com are spammers
I think that bittorrent can be of significant commercial interest. It might be used for software updates for instance. Have you pursued this path or have companies approached you?
I certainly hope you'd keep a free version available, but a more feature-rich version would surely land you a great deal of money with the right pitch.
You recently had some success in distributing RH9 isos. Was RedHat involved with this process? Are they evaluating your technology for other applications (esp. up2date)?
While I am moving away from RedHat because of the changes to up2date, it would be interesting to see a major UNIX player (perhaps even a BSD) begin distributing errata via Bittorrent - perhaps even allowing a configurable parameter to control the "willingness to upload."
Bittorrent integration into Solaris patchchk would also be quite a coup for your team, granted that they are perl-centric.
In my recent test, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum were downloading the same link, over the same time period (although they weren't started at exactly the same time) and were even on the same broadband ISP (with the same bandwidth).
Why did Tweedle Dee seem to have great speed, maxing out his bandwidth, when Tweedle Dum couldn't seem to get higher than modem speeds? Is the bandwidth evenly distributed? Is there a preference system? Is it first come first serve? Does Tweedle Dum simply have bad luck?
Why did you choose to use binary format for .torrent files instead of clear text?
As a corollary to this question: if you did indeed forsee illegal uses of BitTorrent, would you happily admit to it on the record in a public forum?
And if so: would be interested in some property in the Florida Everglades?
I'm wondering the obvious: have you been approached by any Big Corporationtm-type groups to pull the BitTorrent source and binaries from your site? What about scare tactics? Have you spoken with a lawyer yet to determine just how much liability you'd have were someone to attempt to sue you?
(Incidentally, I'd assume your liability to be zero, but the way the world's running right now, scapegoating has become a popular hobby.)
- Cloud
Actually the site is down because we're in the process of moving to a new server. Our wimpy 1.1GHz Celeron cannot handle being /.ed every other day.
We've seen how BitTorrent is valuable for distributing large files (like iso images) across the internet, but have you thought about other uses for the technology? A couple ideas that come to mind are:
(1) extending the HTTP protocol to allow web sites to become p2p. This would alleviate bandwidth problems for sites that serve medium to large sized files (such as photo galleries).
(2) file servers. A company with a heavily utilized file server could offload a substantial amount of the load to the client machines for commonly accessed files.
These would only apply to static/read-only data, of course. Any thoughts?
For every post, there is an equal and opposite re-post.
Do you see BitTorrent as a remedy for the "slashdot effect"?
"dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope"
Many freeware/shareware folks like to keep download stats for marketing purposes, so P2P software and mirrors really irk them....
In order to foster more love from freeware/shareware distributors, could BitTorrent be made to inform the end user (me) that BitTorrent was going to send a "notice of download" (not including any personal information, such as an IP, etc) upon sucessful download (that I could preview before sending of course)?
If *I* was Warner Bros, and eveyone offered to distribute and pay for all the bandwidth for the next version of the Animatrix, while I still got to see download statistics, i'm not sure I'd even would need to provide a direct link to the 150 meg QuickTime files.
With this kind of feedback mechanism, the software/media providers get all the love - download stats, far far far less bandwidth used -
and we get all the goodness - their free movies, software, freeware, data, etc. Its the ultimate mirror.
Or am i missing something?
guns kill people like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.
Every day more and more BT clients are popping-up, with features not originally intended for the protocol. Do you feel that these features, such as multi-tracker search features, are doomed to kill "the network?" On the flipside, what are your thoughts on other, "classic p2p" clients now incorporating BT technology (heh, IANAM*), such as the new Shareaza beta?
And I know I'm cheating here, but:
What can you, me, or we as a community do to ensure that BT stays pure, or at least, survives in it's original, intended state?
put the what in the where?
Bram isn't doing anything illegal. If you think he is, perhaps we should outlaw FTP, HTTP and not let you turn your computer on.
.ISO files surviving the Slashdot effect.
BT is a file sharing tool, but unlike other P2P applications, the centralised trackers (and their hosts) are the immobile weak points. Hell, trackers are regularly crushed by the traffic generated by their own *users*.
90% of the trackers I've seen are sharing legal files, or files that have nothing to do with the MPAA - for example, unlicensed fan-subtitled Japanese animation is booming. But the community is very good at removing files when movies / series *do* get licensed for a US release. I don't think it's a widespread threat to the MPAA - illegal distribution points would be extremely easy to knock offline and prosecute.
There is a demonstratably good use for BT, witness the Red Hat
There's a grey line with the TV show download sites, but if the video streams don't cut out the commercials... I don't see why anyone would want to complain about that ("you're viewing our advertising - stop it!" doesn't make much sense).
And the RIAA has no threat with BitTorrent as it's extremely unsuitable for small files. 100MB+ torrents are probably the sweet spot. Sure, albums could be bundled together into one larger torrent - but with P2P music people usually only want that one song that's good from an album and aren't going to want to download the rest.
It can also be a pain in the ass to share anything with BT - but that's a good thing.
On one of the other BitTorrent stories, someone suggested making a module for Apache, mod_torrent, that would, when asked for files of a certain type (like ISOs, and they would contain only GPL'ed software of course) or over a certain size (1 MB? 5 MB? 20 MB?), would send a torrent of it, and if there were no seeds at the time, would seed the file itself.
That sounds like an awesome module. Do you see it happening? Would you assist someone who was trying to write such a thing?
Currently P2P networks generally form almost entirely at random- you're as likely to connect to a server on the other side of the world as you are to connect to a server 5 feet away that has the same file. This means you use up bandwidth on all the links on all the machines inbetween. Clearly you can reduce the total amount of bandwidth used, and often latency and throughput, if you (mostly) go to local servers. Are you planning to include any strategies to help minimise this in Bittorrent?
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"