Let's have a show of hands: how many boatanchor hams would like to see the
BAMA site go to Bittorrent?

The BAMA site and the mirrors are overloaded, and I think Bittorrent would
solve the problem: it's a file-sharing system that uses its users' computers
to distribute the data. A cable modem or DSL is, of course, assumed.

Here are details of how it works:

http://bitconjurer.org/BitTorrent/ (Be careful to use this link: the
"bittorent" site is a ripoff)

And, we all know where the BAMA site is: http://bama.sbc.edu/.

Bill

My hand stays down. For the most part, file-sharing systems are a very
risky business.

-Bill M

William Warren wrote:

Let's have a show of hands: how many boatanchor hams would like to see the
BAMA site go to Bittorrent?

The BAMA site and the mirrors are overloaded, and I think Bittorrent would
solve the problem: it's a file-sharing system that uses its users' computers
to distribute the data. A cable modem or DSL is, of course, assumed.

Here are details of how it works:

http://bitconjurer.org/BitTorrent/ (Be careful to use this link: the
"bittorent" site is a ripoff)

And, we all know where the BAMA site is: http://bama.sbc.edu/.

Bill

In article EDxcc.83367$K91.181568@attbi_s02, "William Warren"
writes:

A cable modem or DSL is, of course, assumed.

A lot of us don't have wideband net access. So two thumbs down.

Or maybe the DSL is required only for participants actively sharing files, as
opposed to most of us who just want to download one once in a while?

Anywa, I likethe idea of a central location, versus a Napster-like distributed
sharing system. --Mike K. AA1UK

Oscar loves trash, but hates Spam! Delete him to reply to me.

"Mike Knudsen" wrote in message
...
In article EDxcc.83367$K91.181568@attbi_s02, "William Warren"
writes:

A cable modem or DSL is, of course, assumed.

A lot of us don't have wideband net access. So two thumbs down.

Or maybe the DSL is required only for participants actively sharing files,
as
opposed to most of us who just want to download one once in a while?

As I understand Bittorrent, it tries to speed up file transfer times by
dividing files up into small chunks, and downloading different chunks to the
various computers requesting the file(s), with instructions to share the
chunks with each other. A dialup connection is just a thinner pipe, and
dialup could participate along with everyone else. The big deal with the
system is that you get credit for sharing, and you get to set the upload
speed to a reasonable number.

In other words, you can download one, or more than one, and share it while
you're online. A DSL or Cable connection is required only for the node(s)
that contain the file information: I should have said "A cable modem or DSL
is, of course, assumed for prime nodes, since they must be on all the time,
but dialup users can participate too".

Anywa, I likethe idea of a central location, versus a Napster-like
distributed
sharing system. --Mike K. AA1UK

It's not a binary choice: the BAMA site and its mirrors can stay in service,
with Bittorrent providing faster downloads for those who choose to use it.
Since (if I understand the system correctly) Bittorrent files are shared
only amoung computers which request them from the source node(s), I'm asking
if there are enough hams interested in trying it out to make it viable for
BAMA files.

If there are Bittorrent SME's on here, speak up: I probably got some of the
details wrong.

Bill

William Warren wrote:

Let's have a show of hands: how many boatanchor hams would like to see the
BAMA site go to Bittorrent?

My hands remain in my pockets. I am not interested what so ever
in someone else having access to my computer files. Just something
else for me to worry about.

7 3
Reed

--

Looking for information on Marconi SMR-3 and
Northern Electric R8119A receivers of WW 2.

ARROW Research (Avro CF-105)
Reed Park
252 Gauvin Road
Dieppe, New Brunswick
Canada E1A1M1

Amateur Radio V E 1 N U
WW II, # 19 SET user
Paraset replica builder and owner of a real one.

"William Warren" wrote in message news:EDxcc.83367$K91.181568@attbi_s02...
Let's have a show of hands: how many boatanchor hams would like to see the
BAMA site go to Bittorrent?

Negative. It's a peer-to-peer potential security issue among other
things, and we can well be patient enough to d/l from the site or the
mirror as available, and without having to get matched up with buddies
to get the info.

But a very good thing to do for easing up the load a great deal, would
be to dump horrid Acrobat & convert all those huge .pdf's into .djvu
or into anything less of a PITA than Acrobat size-wise. Huge .pdf's
often drop data, too, making long d/l's sometimes extra frustrating,
particularly on dialups. Even all .jpgs would be far smaller. As for
..djvu, it seems to be about half the size of .pdf's, and the free
reader is less cluttered & clunky to boot. I would think this would
also save a lot of expensive server real estate.

qsl.net would be glad to host the BAMA material. It would be nice if
the users would donate now and again. qsl.net is still being paid for
out of the owner's pocket. And yes, I contribute often.
Kingfish

On Tue, 06 Apr 2004 12:45:24 GMT, "William Warren"
wrote:

Let's have a show of hands: how many boatanchor hams would like to see the
BAMA site go to Bittorrent?

The BAMA site and the mirrors are overloaded, and I think Bittorrent would
solve the problem: it's a file-sharing system that uses its users' computers
to distribute the data. A cable modem or DSL is, of course, assumed.

Here are details of how it works:

http://bitconjurer.org/BitTorrent/ (Be careful to use this link: the
"bittorent" site is a ripoff)

And, we all know where the BAMA site is: http://bama.sbc.edu/.

Bill

I too vote no. Between BAMA and the mirror site I am having no problems. Keep
it all together as is. 73 Mike KF6KXG

On Tue, 06 Apr 2004 12:45:24 GMT, "William Warren"
wrote:

Let's have a show of hands: how many boatanchor hams would like to see the
BAMA site go to Bittorrent?

No - file sharing systems pose too great a security risk.

Dale H. Cook, Chief Engineer, WWWR Roanoke VA, WCQV Moneta VA, WKBA
WZZI Vinton VA, WKPA WLNI WZZU Lynchburg VA, WMNA/WMNA-FM Gretna VA
http://members.cox.net/dalehcook/starcity.shtml

"Dale H. Cook" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 06 Apr 2004 12:45:24 GMT, "William Warren"
wrote:

Let's have a show of hands: how many boatanchor hams would like to see
the
BAMA site go to Bittorrent?

No - file sharing systems pose too great a security risk.

With respect, I disagree: Bittorrent is a proven application, using
dedicated ports, and users can run it on either Linux or MS, whichever
they're more comfortable with. I don't feel it's any added risk: it's open
source, is patched quickly, and has a good user base. The bandwidth savings,
IMNSHO, justify the effort.

YMMV.

Bill