On Fri, Dec 14, 2001 at 01:10:22PM -0800, Pete Warner wrote:
> After reading this list for a week, I get the
> impression that many people see FreeNet as a piece of
> a larger application.  

This is true, one way to look at Freenet is as a replacement for web
servers, it is an application in itself, but it can be used together
with a variety of other software (both written and unwritten) bringing
its benefits of efficiency and anonymity.

> I have read one post about
> FreeNet being half of a total anonymous solution.

I am not sure I would agree with that, it is the anonymous component of
a wider solution, but it comes with useful tools (such as fproxy) as
standard, so it is useful stand-alone.

> I have considered volunteering my time to Gnutella for
> a few weeks now and basically find it one huge cluster
> of a mess.  

No argument here...

> In the end, what is *REALLY* needed is an *EASY TO
> USE* application that allows: 

We are working hard to make it easy to use, have you checked out the the
windows installer lately?

> 1) fast public searches (see #3), 

Freenet seems to search in logarithmic time in the average case, that is
pretty much as good as you could hope for.

> 2) the ability to host public files,

Not sure what you mean by this.

> 3) some type of searchable metadata directory,

As can be seen from how people currently use freenet, fuzzy-searching is
far from a prerequisite for a useful system, but it would be nice.

> 4) fast downloads (caching combined with Digital
> Fountain-type downloading?),

Some clients already do multi-thread requests for split data, this isn't
a core Freenet issue.

> 5) anonymous searches and downloads (with a
> willingness to sacrifice speed and bandwidth), 

Freenet, in theory, is much more bandwidth efficient than Gnutella since
it doesn't rely on broadcasts.

> So *WHO* is working on building one single application
> that is able to bring this all together?  *THAT* is
> the open source project I want to donate my time and
> coding talents to.

Well, remember that our goal is not to build the next Napster or
Gnutella, and many of the goals of such a project would be a distraction
from our core goals.

Ian.

-- 
Ian Clarke                                        [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Founder & Coordinator, The Freenet Project    http://freenetproject.org/
Chief Technology Officer, Uprizer Inc.           http://www.uprizer.com/

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