Development [LWN.net]

GTK-Gnutella

GTK-Gnutella is a Graphical GNOME client that is used for accessing the Gnutella Peer to Peer file sharing network.

Gnutella is by far the most popular alternative to the OpenNap network. The protocol is open source, and so are most of the clients. Gnutella is a generally decentralized network and was originally created/supported in response to perceived and real threats towards centralized bodies like Napster. The thought behind decentralization is that no one broken link can bring about the downfall of all members.

Your development page editor had a chance to install and play with the latest version of GTK-Gnutella this week. From a network security standpoint, there is something rather unnerving about an application that starts up and immediately starts connecting to hosts all over the net, especially an application that is designed to share files from Your System. Fortunately, the application defaults to sharing no files. One UI component that is immediately obvious in its absence is an easily findable STOP button. By default, the application wants to continue to generate lots of network traffic, even if the operator only wants to get familiar with the many UI options.

Rationality was pushed aside, and the exploration of the utility commenced. It took a while to figure out that most of the functionality of GTK-Gnutella is controlled by the small command tree that's located in the upper left corner of the application. Further exploration revealed that the power of the application can be accessed by going into the search section and entering search terms.

A search was set for mp3, and the application was left running. After a while, there was a screen full of potential mp3 files to be downloaded. A file was chosen, and the application cranked away. A short while later, I had an MP3 file with the group Phish singing some Hebrew music. Serious time could be wasted on such an application.

Unfortunately, a good percentage of the available files appeared to be illegal copies of copyrighted material. One wonders, with all of the freely copyable music that's available these days, why one would go to the trouble to copy and distribute the commercial music that's so readily available from the usual distribution channels. Enter the DMCA. Perhaps the contributors would be well advised to become more familiar with some of the bands that allow taping, or the countless free music sites such as the IUMA.

A search for all jpg files located a ton of "T&A" images, not too surprising considering the percentage of Internet bandwidth that's dedicated to such stuff.

Content aside, this does look to be a utility with the potential for many interesting uses. The concepts behind the distributed storage network are quite fascinating. Although the aforementioned network connections look like they are generating a lot of traffic, the protocol has been optimized for minimum bandwidth usage. Just let it crank, possibly share some of your favorite files, and plug into a global network that's full of free content.

Version 0.93 of GTK-Gnutella has been announced this week on SourceForge. See the announcement for the list of changes with this version. Development help is needed for GTK-Gnutella, see the GTK-Gnutella development page for more information.

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