Remember When P2P Wasn't Just About File Sharing?
from the oh-right... dept
These days, it certainly does seem like the term "P2P" is forever linked with unauthorized file sharing. However, that wasn't always the case. It is true that it was often associated with file sharing -- but there was lots of talk about other P2P applications that focused more on distributed computing -- allowing more powerful applications that pulled spare cycles and bandwidth from computer systems around the world? Certainly, there are still some of these projects going -- but the big promise for how distributed computing systems were going to become a hugely powerful part of the next generation of applications and services hasn't matched the predictions from five or six years ago. There certainly are some success stories. Things like Skype show a distributed application at work -- but whenever you hear people talking about P2P today, it tends to just be about file sharing networks. In some ways, this is too bad, because there were some really powerful possibilities that made sense for distributed computing. Perhaps part of the problem, though, was that it was simply overhyped at the beginning with people thinking that anything could be made better with distributed computing systems. However, not everything really makes sense as a distributed app, and when things like a distributed search engine failed to catch on, those who were simply jumping on the hype bandwagon seemed to shift gears and focus on more shiny AJAX widgets instead. That's probably a good thing, because now it means those who are working on serious distributed systems can focus on them in peace, without having to deal with all the hype.
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Filed Under: p2p
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File Sharing networks...
They can shoot down anyone, but they cant stop everyone...
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P2P software
I also run joost. Plus I use Vuze to get some non copywrite videos.
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Re:
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Re #3
I had never even heard of OINK until those articles. But I know of many other places. Just as I am sure that many other people have not heard of some of the sites I found and like.
Once somebody finds a site they like, they will stick with it rather than looking for more (in most cases I would say).
You make it sound like OINK was the primary site for all of this. There are already over 17 more in existence. Shutting down OINK only inconveniences the people who used it for the duration of 1 search from any search engine. I would hardly call that a "blow" at all.
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Umm...could we lay off the bittorrent here?
What would be really great would be a project like OpenSkype, or OpenVOIP, which would take advantage of the existing protocols, but run using a vendor-neutral platform.
Another great idea would be an extension of Asterisk, but based on upcoming spectrum allocations, like the 700 MHz auction. That would require open hardware, as well, but should be a step toward getting away from vendor lock.
OK, just throwing out random, probably unworkable ideas, but let's face it. Bit-torrent is not the end-all-be-all of p2p. In essence, every computer connected to the internet is a "peer", just not an especially powerful one, if you are working on a PC or a thin client.
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P2P = good and practical
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