Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Firefox Gets File Sharing Extension

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the only-a-matter-of-time dept.

Jonnty writes "Firefox finally has a good P2P extension.. "[It] incorporates peer-to-peer capabilities into the browser via a sidebar. AllPeers "combines the strength of Firefox and the efficiency of BitTorrent" to add media sharing to the long list of available extensions." "

13 of 337 comments (clear)

  1. avoid slashdot effect? by zapp · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Could this be expanded to create a mini-bittorrent type network where if the browser can't contact the server, it checks its peers to see if a cached copy exists, and download it from them?

    --
    no comment
  2. really? by ccozan · · Score: 5, Funny

    before you made this comment, what shape had the glass?

  3. Maybe Possibly by kernelpanicked · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Since the allpeers site is just a bunch of pictures and promises, with no actual extension available, shouldn't the title be "Firefox MIGHT get file sharing extension"?

    --
    Ubuntu: If at first you don't succeed, blindly slap a sudo in front of it
  4. Nice Pre-Release PR by ergo98 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    • It isn't even released yet. All there is are some easily dummied up screenshots.
    • It's basically BitTorrent in a sidebar. Why is this impressive, again? My browsing and file-sharing are completely separate tasks, and the integration is as logical as putting file system defragmenting in a sidebar.


    Color me cynical, and unimpressed.
    1. Re:Nice Pre-Release PR by 1000StonedMonkeys · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why is this impressive, again? My browsing and file-sharing are completely separate tasks, and the integration is as logical as putting file system defragmenting in a sidebar.

      This would be a good analogy if the only way you could defragment your hard drive was by clicking on links in firefox. When I click on an ftp link in firefox, firefox doesn't launch my ftp client. Why should clicking a torrent link be any different? To the average user, they're both just download links.

  5. Re:The future of data sharing? by __aaxwdb6741 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Whoa, that is one of the stupidest ideas I've ever heard of.

    There are other protocols that, in my opinion, are better that BT. I've seen a few that use other (third party) users to mask both the sender and receiver from one-another. I believe this is going to be important especially when it comes to government regulation and censorship. I'm anti-copyright, so I couldn't care less about who owns what.

    These protocols need one or more centralized server(s) to function properly.

    I could even see a future where we could do away with DNS in the long term as we could access webpages or other information through this network of shared temporary file folders.

    Another idiotic idea. Why the hell would I want to spend my time LOOKING for the website I want, instead of just plain visiting it? Yes, this WOULD require me to look for the website. Also, security (Login information, et cetera) is practically impossible in such situations.

    What you're basically saying, is that we should all go back to sharing plain-text ASCII, but in a new way.
    I say NO THANK YOU, please leave the internet as it is already.
  6. Coral Cache Link by FST · · Score: 5, Informative

    Since the allpeers site is getting bombed, here is the coral cache link: http://www.allpeers.com.nyud.net:8090/index_f.htm

    --
    46487 466780 252994 376409 96920 39622 205366 244315 622115 512361 668040 63608 259203 955314 811176 652718 166330 23922
  7. Incredible! by breckinshire · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now I can get sued by the RIAA AND use Firefox! Take that, Microsoft!

  8. Implication by Omnieiunium · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Actually, this might not be such a bad idea and it sort of makes sense. For webpages that heavily depend upon video or audio, this would work perfectly if implemented well. It makes sense that if you downloaded the file and played it in a built-in player in Firefox or other. I can also see it saving a lot of bandwidth for sites. It also saves the need of having to get another client, like Azureus, and downloading the .torrent file and all that extra stuff to download something, while having it just download in Firefox. This may be a new interesting to way spread content, so I think it should be watched closely.

  9. Not available yet by Swamii · · Score: 5, Funny
    From the now-swamped allpeers.com site,

    "Coming soon!"


    So, Slashdot is reposting a short articled posted by an small tech news outlet about a non-existant plug-in for Firefox. Brilliant.

    This is why I come to Slashdot every day, folks. These are the big stories no one else has. All presented in a way that's both fair & balanced, giving clear, concise, accurate headlines. No prejudiced opinion pieces. Just pure, unadulterated tech news bliss, straight from the Cowboy's mouth!
    --
    Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit
  10. Re:The future of data sharing? by dada21 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    These protocols need one or more centralized server(s) to function properly.

    That isn't true at all. P2P is finding ways to de-centralize more and more every day.

    The idea of a third party intermediary is not unheard of -- in fact, there are numerous BitTorrent replacement protocols being developed right now that take advantage of another user on a network to mask the sender and receiver from one-another. You can go out and get the latest "pirate" MP3, but you have no idea who you're getting it from and they have no idea who they're sending it to. I find that this is a better way to keep over-regulation of the Internet down, and uphold the right to free expression.

    Another idiotic idea. Why the hell would I want to spend my time LOOKING for the website I want, instead of just plain visiting it? Yes, this WOULD require me to look for the website. Also, security (Login information, et cetera) is practically impossible in such situations.

    I'm an anarchocapitalist, and I hate knowing that DNS will likely be the control system our governments user to censor the information out there. I'm constantly trying to find theories in how we could use the Internet without central regulation (such as DNS), and I feel that networks are becoming more and more transparent to domain names as time goes on. Yes, google and other search engines rely on domain names but this is merely to keep things simple. Over time I believe we'll see search engines develop that completely ignore domain names -- although how we'd link to one another is another problem, but that is being worked on as well.

  11. Re:My perhaps stupid question... by mogwai7 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Since it is a plugin and not a part of Firefox, no. This is one of the best advantages of a plugin architecture. You can allow controversial functionality, like adblock, to be added and avoid consequences. They may go after the plugin writers, but so what? Even if they stop them, 10 more would probably be released, especially if the original implementation is open source.

  12. MozTorrent by nurmr · · Score: 5, Informative

    For something that is already in development, check out http://moztorrent.mozdev.org/screenshots.html