Here's a refresher on Metalink: 'Metalink makes complex download pages obsolete by replacing long lists of download mirrors and BitTorrent trackers with a single .metalink file. As you might have already guessed, a .metalink file is a file that tells a download manager all the different ways it can download a file. The file itself takes the form of an open XML standard that can list an unlimited number of HTTP and FTP sources as well as BitTorrent trackers and ed2k and magnet links.' (http://www.downloadsquad.com/2006/08/28/metalinks-integrated-bittorrent-htt p-and-ftp-downloads/)
OpenOffice.org and around ten Linux/BSD distributions are using it for their ISO downloads. Right now, there are 4 clients covering Unix/Mac/Win. I think this could be a pretty useful feature for wget. Here's what metalinks look like: <metalink version="3.0" xmlns="http://www.metalinker.org/";> <files> <file name="example.ext"> <verification> <hash type="md5">example-md5-hash</hash> <hash type="sha1">example-sha1-hash</hash> </verification> <resources> <url type="ftp">ftp://ftp.example1.com/example.ext</url> <url type="http">http://www.example1.com/example.ext</url> <url type="bittorrent">http://www.ex.com/example.ext.torrent</url> <url type="magnet"/> <url type="ed2k"/> </resources> </file> </files> </metalink> (( Anthony Bryan )) Metalink [ http://www.metalinker.org ]
