Re: [gentoo-dev] Gnunet and Gentoo

[Jared H. Hudson]

This sounds a look a good idea. In fact the MD5 checksums are already a 
part of portage, in the files section of any package directory.

You should be aware though, that the source files and patches that are 
downloaded come first from ftp.ibiblio.org, then from the origanal website 
for that package.

For example, emerge'ing emacs would try ftp.ibiblio.org then gnu.org. The 
only files that come from Gentoo's main site is the packages/misc small files 
like md5 digest, ect. All of this is via rsync or CVS.

So, the only benefit to a P2P system would be for another place besides 
ftp.ibiblio.org, its mirrors, or original site to download from.

-Jared H.

On Wed, 10 Apr 2002, Vik Olliver wrote:

> Now that Gnunet has settled down:
>
> http://gecko.cs.purdue.edu/gnet/
>
> Might it be possible to use Gnunet to distribute the source tarballs
> among Gentoo installations?
>
> As most users will tend to have their tarballs stored locally and are
> very likely to have a network connection, Gentoo is an ideal
> distribution for P2P updating - provided that some trusted GPG signature
> (or MD5 at a pinch) can be used to verify the integrity of the source.
>
> Implementing this system frees Gentoo and all its applications from the
> burden and expense of having to maintain a central source repository
> with high bandwidth, allowing the distribution to grow freely at its own
> pace. Fixes will percolate through automatically, software that is
> banned in backward parts of the world will come through via untraceable
> routes, and the caching will ensure that the file requests are
> distributed evenly.
>
> I regret that I am already fully comitted (possibly over-comitted) to
> charitable projects already, but I believe this idea should be aired to
> those willing and able to implement it.
>
> Regards,
>
> Vik Olliver
>

-- 
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