Re: [dcplusplus-devel] Question about DC++ development

[Jacek S. <arn...@gm...>]

Hi,

I hope you don't mind be taking this question to the devel list..

In general, there were/are good reasons not to use filename based
sharing and I don't see mainstream DC++ going back, specially not to
downloading from unhashed sources.

However, one way to supply "instant" sharing at the uploading end
(which seems to be the actual functionality you're missing?) that
could make it into the core would be to generate the hashes
semi-lazily - i e allow search and browse by filename and somehow
prioritize hash-building for files that are in someones download
queue.

Also, if you would like to make a lan-version of DC++, we would gladly
accept any patches that would make maintaining your fork easier as
long as they would make reasonable sense in the hash-only core.

Regards,
Jacek

On Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 2:19 PM, Lewis Hosie <lew...@gm...> wrote:
> Fantastic, thanks for that Fredrik.
>
> Hi guys,
> Over the last few years I've been attending LAN events in Melbourne,
> Australia. I'm not sure how aware you are of this but pretty much everyone
> around here uses DC++ (old versions of it) to share files at LANs. The main
> reason for this is that few other filesharing programs support organised
> downloading of entire folders, but can also share tens of terabytes without
> spending days to weeks hashing (especially when the LAN itself is shorter
> than the amount of time needed to hash).
>
> There have been a few attempts at original LAN-oriented filesharing apps
> (D-LAN etc) and have also been a few attempts to get people to switch to
> them (I even wrote a working demo of one myself), or to switch to the latest
> version of DC++, but these have always met with failure. The key problem I
> think is that nothing else has the combination of the ability to share
> without hashing as well as backwards compatibility with early versions of
> DC++ on NMDC hubs. The main two versions which are used in this manner are
> .306 (AFAIK last version not to hash) and .674 (AFAIK last version to load
> unhashed file lists), which of course are pretty damn old.
>
> There's also been a few attempts at building a version of DC++ that doesn't
> need to hash (LANDC etc) that are based on hashing DC but with hashing
> removed, making them incompatible with pretty much everything except
> themselves.
>
> While undoubtedly these events should be switching to ADC and newer versions
> of clients, and while purging unhashed and NMDC-based clients from the
> internet has been a long painful process, it's pretty much inevitable that a
> whole lot of people are going to stick with old versions (or unsustainable
> forks of old versions) until there is a solution that works with DC++ .306,
> works with newer versions, and allows instant sharing.
>
> Is the DC++ project as a whole entirely committed to never re-adding support
> for these things? Would the project suffer from a new version that allows
> downloading from (not necessarily uploading to) unhashed sources and the
> ability to add unhashed files for LAN connections only?
>
> I've made a few experimental clients for various protocols, but they would
> be entirely redundant if there was the possibility of DC++ covering those
> bases. I'm willing to put some work into creating a fork with these features
> if there's the possibility of reintegration into the mainstream client.
>
> Thanks,
> Lewis Hosie
> Developer at Prolapsoft
>
> On Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 8:55 PM, Fredrik Ullner <ul...@gm...> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Lewis,
>>
>> I am no longer an active developer for DC++ (haven't been for some time).
>> The main developers are Jacek Sieka and poy (CC:ed). They should be able to
>> give you more information about where they want things to go with DC++.
>> (It'd be nice if I were on a CC since I'm curious about what you want. :) )
>>
>> If you have any particular question about the code or software, you can go
>> to <https://launchpad.net/dcplusplus>. Also, you can go to the developers
>> hub (via DC++) located at <adcs://hub.dcbase.org:16591>, where there are not
>> only developers for DC++ but for other Direct Connect oriented software.
>>
>> On Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 5:16 AM, Lewis Hosie <lew...@gm...>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi there,
>>>
>>> I have a big question about both the application of DC++ and its overall
>>> development direction. Before I explain it in full, I'd like to know whether
>>> I'm asking the right person - are you one of the main developers of DC++?
>>> Can you speak for the overall direction of the project?
>>>
>>> Thanks for any response,
>>> Lewis Hosie
>>> Developer at Prolapsoft
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Fredrik Ullner
>
>