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By now everyone has likely heard about the demise of the most
popular peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing program, Napster.
But all is not lost, fellow-file sharers. P2P is just beginning,
and it won’t go away anytime soon. Even now, there are many
other P2P programs that allow users to share MP3’s and more.
KaZaA, Imesh, CuteMX and MojoNation are just a few of the
other P2P systems, but they all share the same flaws as Napster.
They are all based on a centralized server that can be taken
down. Napster and Scour are both gone, and soon, any free
P2P system that can be taken down, likely will. Enter Gnutella.
Gnutella (no relation to the European chocolate) is a P2P
protocol invented by Nullsoft, the creators of WinAmp. The
original Gnutella program was only available from Nullsoft’s
website for a short time because AOL, Nullsoft’s parent company,
didn’t want to get into the P2P business.
But it was too late. Gnutella was made available elsewhere
and was reverse engineered. The original Gnutella program
has been made obsolete by newer Gnutella clients that use
the same P2P technology. Gnutella-based programs like the
BearShare and LimeWire are faster easier to use, and more
bug free than the original Gnutella.
The Gnutella protocol works like other P2P systems, but with
one important difference. It doesn’t require a centralized
server to coordinate the floe of information. The server that
users need is a host to connect to, and anyone with an extra
PC can put up a host.
Once users connect to the Gnutella network, searches, like
file transfers, are sent from user to user. When users send
out a search request, it goes to all the computers that are
“nearby” on the network and then goes to all the computers
nearby, until it spreads over the network.
This is actually a pretty efficient system, and Gnutella searches
tend to take less time than Napster searches.
Gnutella may have a small user base compared to Napster, but
Gnutella has more users than most other P2P systems, and is
growing even more with the death of Napster.
Gnutella, like many new P2P systems, allows you to trade much
more than music. In fact, you can trade any kind of file.
Music, movies, images, text, and programs are all available
on Gnutella.
There are numerous Gnutella clients available, but the best
for PC users is BearShare (www.bearshare.com).
BearShare is as easy to use as Napster and the software is
constantly updated and improved by it’s creator. If users
do not use Windows PC, the best bet is LimeWire. It is similar
to BearShare, but can run on Mac and Linux machines.
Another possible replacement for Napster is Napster itself.
When you use the Napster program, you don’t have to connect
to Napster’s servers. There are many other servers out there
which use the Napster compliant protocol OpenNap. These work
just like Napster servers, but aren’t affiliated with Napster,
and there for would have to be shutdown separately.
Because OpenNap is open software, anyone with the required
hardware can put up an OpenNap server. OpenNap servers don’t
usually have as many files, but unless a user is looking for
something really obscure, it can usually be found.
There are numerous ways to connect to OpenNap servers, but
the easiest is a program called Napigator (www.napigato.com).
Napigator displays a list of Napigator and OpenNap servers,
and allows connection to any desired location. It also displays
the amount of users and files on a server. These Napster extensions
will allow use of Napster if it gets shut down. However, unlike
Gnutella, they could suffer the same fate as Napster.
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