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BitTorrent (was: Microsoft edging toward ... )




On Saturday, Feb 12, 2005, at 23:42 US/Central, Bryan J. Smith wrote:
> On Sat, 2005-02-12 at 19:39 -0600, Robert Citek wrote:
>> Now enter FLOSS, BitTorrent, and inexpensive broadband.  With FLOSS
>> getting more and more press, people are beginning to realize that they
>> could keep their existing hardware and install FLOSS instead.  But how
>> do they get FLOSS?  Answer: use BitTorrent and download the FLOSS over
>> your inexpensive broadband connection.
>
> Again, how did this differ than CD swaps or downloads from friends
> before?

How: Shear volume per unit time.  It's the same process but much faster  
and easier to set up.  You don't need a dedicated ftp server or http  
server.  All you need is a dedicated tracker and at least one  
downloader with a full copy of the file.

> I don't see this causing an increased adoption of Linux.

Perhaps not linux, but I would guess BT + broadband is causing  
increased adoption and acceptance of FLOSS.  BT itself is OpenSource  
and runs on Linux, Mac OS/X, and Windows (and probably many other OSes  
by now).  Once people get more comfortable with the concept of FLOSS,  
then, yes, I do believe more people will start using Linux.

> It's merely an avenue.

Yes, BT is an avenue.  But not merely an avenue.  It is a fundamentally  
different way of distributing bits.  If nothing else, BT differs from  
ftp and http in that BT spreads out the distribution workload among the  
clients.

BTW, for comparison, major changes in societies have happened when  
there were changes in the avenues by which people got goods and  
services.  For example, the West opened up with the building of the  
Transcontinental railroad, suburbs popped up with the advent of the  
automobile, the world became smaller because of the airplane.  In this  
day and age we can even make virtual trips to places across the world  
in a matter of seconds.  For example, I can visit Mount Saint Helens  
with a click on this link:

   http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/index.shtml

Getting goods and services from here to there is, and always will be, a  
big challenge for businesses.

> BSD, Linux and other development and adoption was going on well before
> cheap broadband.

Agreed.  BT + broadband makes getting the software easier.  Not  
everyone can host an ftp or http server.  But, every Joe or Jane can  
participate in BT.

>> We are becoming very comfortable with getting software
>> (and other items, e.g. orders, contracts, etc.) over the 'net.
>
> At the same time, we have rampant spyware issues.

Spyware is a totally different issue.  BT + broadband is only a means  
to get the software.  It makes no guarantee as to what kind of software  
you get.  You can get spyware via CD swapping, ftp, http, and even  
sftp, just as you can via BT.

> And yes, I have been recommending The OpenCD very often since I first
> heard about it a few years ago.

It's a bummer they don't include a BT client, even though TheOpenCd  
itself is available via BT:

    
http://www.theopencd.org/ 
index.php?option=com_static&staticfile=download.html
   http://hirisemultimedia.com/TOCD2.iso.bz2.torrent

>> So, while I agree that business consumers will challenge Microsoft, I
>> believe they will be looking to non-traditional distributors and
>> non-traditional distribution methods, such as BitTorrent.
>
> But there is still a lot that comes from the traditional OEM channels.

Agreed.  But I suspect that may be changing.  Again, I could be wrong.

Regards,
- Robert
http://www.cwelug.org/downloads
Help others get OpenSource software.  Distribute FLOSS
for Windows, Linux, *BSD, and MacOS X with BitTorrent


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