P2P-Zone - View Single Post - Danse Macabre of Fasttrack - nominee for longest post competition (sorry)

JackSpratts · 04-03-02, 06:43 PM

Wow Smoketoomuch, what a post!

And to think that was the fast version! Ok. Here's a couple of points about some things you addressed.

Yes, the node problem is a major weakness in that most searches (almost all actually) don't go much beyond the local supernode for reasons of network stability. This was to be addressed in later versions, which brings me to your comments about technology. There was, and is, huge room for improvement in almost every area of the Fasttrack system, from the client to the network. From bandwidth management to shutdown protocols, supernode voting and social issues, there is much that needs to be done to make the program more powerful and easier to use. Some of these changes that were to have taken place in v2 included improvements to scalability, chat and hotlisting. Other, more esoteric social functions would be added like neighborhoods (all Rebols' department) and then of course, two-way connectedness with Gnutella. A lot of little things were to be fixed like user/file estimating (always way off) and GUI improvements too (remembering settings, not losing info bars, adding color and so forth). As time went on things like the port problems would be looked at with the goal of dropping reliance on specific ports altogether (1214 issues). When one of your biggest constituents - college students - are forced to use a different client, you've got major problems right there. I'm not sure about downloading from partials but looking at the way the system lays out, you'd think it was designed with that in mind. I may have heard something about it but I can't say for certain.

There are of course other, extremely important things a p2p can have, and should have in my eyes. First and foremost obviously, a network can't survive todays' hostile legal climate unless it's truly decentralized, and that needs to be carved in granite. Next and almost as important is true IP address cloaking and security against attacks and virus protection. I could go on for pages about the weaknesses in various systems but why make it easy on Hillary and I'm out the door besides!

The day is long in the future when file sharing technology will be improved “beyond improvement.” And that's frustrating sure but really to me, that's what makes it so cool.

- js.

04-03-02, 06:43 PM	#4
JackSpratts Join Date: May 2001 Location: New England Posts: 10,020	Wow Smoketoomuch, what a post! And to think that was the fast version! Ok. Here's a couple of points about some things you addressed. Yes, the node problem is a major weakness in that most searches (almost all actually) don't go much beyond the local supernode for reasons of network stability. This was to be addressed in later versions, which brings me to your comments about technology. There was, and is, huge room for improvement in almost every area of the Fasttrack system, from the client to the network. From bandwidth management to shutdown protocols, supernode voting and social issues, there is much that needs to be done to make the program more powerful and easier to use. Some of these changes that were to have taken place in v2 included improvements to scalability, chat and hotlisting. Other, more esoteric social functions would be added like neighborhoods (all Rebols' department) and then of course, two-way connectedness with Gnutella. A lot of little things were to be fixed like user/file estimating (always way off) and GUI improvements too (remembering settings, not losing info bars, adding color and so forth). As time went on things like the port problems would be looked at with the goal of dropping reliance on specific ports altogether (1214 issues). When one of your biggest constituents - college students - are forced to use a different client, you've got major problems right there. I'm not sure about downloading from partials but looking at the way the system lays out, you'd think it was designed with that in mind. I may have heard something about it but I can't say for certain. There are of course other, extremely important things a p2p can have, and should have in my eyes. First and foremost obviously, a network can't survive todays' hostile legal climate unless it's truly decentralized, and that needs to be carved in granite. Next and almost as important is true IP address cloaking and security against attacks and virus protection. I could go on for pages about the weaknesses in various systems but why make it easy on Hillary and I'm out the door besides! The day is long in the future when file sharing technology will be improved “beyond improvement.” And that's frustrating sure but really to me, that's what makes it so cool. - js.