p2p for my network only?
 

again; i'm posting a question here i could easily research myself but figure it's a good question for 'the archives'... hehe.

i want to share files between my mac and my pcs. there are programs for macintosh that will allow this; but they all cost money and i haven't found a cracked version of one yet.

so is there a p2p i could run on all the systems that will remain only on the network if i tell it to? and, of course, the smaller and more stable the better...

if not a p2p, can anyone think of any other easy solutions that would let us all easily transfer files to each other (preferably without people outside this network getting access to those files too)?

...so i'd be setting up an ftp server for every machine? i have 4 computers here besides whatever visiting computers come by. so i mean sure; i guess i could designate one "the server" and keep it on all the time for convenience and whenever i need to transfer a file i upload to the 'server' and then download from the computer that wants the file... but that's a bit of a pain. or i could set up an ftp server on every computer; but again that's a bit of a pain; plus i'd have to give all the computers static ips instead of the randomly assigned ones now which even though isn't so much a pain i wouldn't qualify that as easy.

plus not everyone is a geek that is comfy with ftp; while a p2p app normally has a nice easy gui that doesn't involve typing in ip addresses and such...

but sure, it's a solution if there really is no such thing as a p2p that will stay in just my network.

Groove Networks, a commercial P2P, may be the solution. It's specifically designed for what you have in mind. I've no idea how you'd configure it to remain off line and "in house" but it that's what support is for. Only thing is, you'll probably have to pay for it beyond a preview edition.

- js.