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All,
Judging from the high download numbers and the positive feedback, it seems the word is spreading and people are successfully sharing and downloading some great tunes with Furthur! Although we didn't plan for the beta test to grow so large, we are very excited about the interest generated in this project. It is providing us with a great incentive to make the software better and better! This message will address many questions and concerns that have come up recently. The delayed release was due to a decision to make all the remaining major changes at once, which we believe we have done. Current Users Upgrading to v1.5.1: ---------------------------------- 1. Delete everything in the folder called "temp" under the Furthur folder (for Windows users, this will be in "c:\Program Files\Furthur\temp"). Old temp files will not be usable by the new version of Furthur, and their existence may cause problems with new downloads. Make sure to leave the empty "temp" folder where it is so that the new version can store temp data there. 2. Rename or move your "downloads" folder. Create an empty folder called "downloads" that the new version of Furthur may start fresh with. You'll be glad that you did this, as the new version of Furthur validates file integrity and follows the etree-standard naming conventions. This way, you'll accumulate shows in a folder that are named consistently and are validated for correctness. (see additional info below) 3. Install and run Furthur v1.5.1. If you're one of the early beta testers still running JRE 1.2.2 (the earlier Java runtime environment), you will need to upgrade to the newer runtime (JRE 1.3.1). We anticipate that this will be an issue for very few people. 4. Be aware that the new version will clear out shares and partials from older versions. If this concerns you, please continue reading to become aware of the great advantages this provides. Additions in Version v1.5.1 ---------------------------------- * MD5 Functionality - MD5 checksums provide a trusted method of determining a file's integrity. Furthur will now store MD5s for all shows shared across the network. When a share is first created, an MD5 checksum will be generated which will be used to identify the fileset (and duplicates of it). As downloads take place, each file is validated when it arrives. If a file fails the MD5 check, it will be downloaded again. We generally don't expect MD5s to fail. Bugs in previous versions of Furthur have caused some integrity problems, but they are believed to be totally fixed in v1.5.1. A show is also MD5 validated as a whole before automatically resharing, to insure that every reshare on the Furthur Network is identical to the original seed. * SHN Validation - While all files shared with Furthur will take advantage of MD5 checksums, lossless SHN files have an additional feature. SHN format shows are always seeded with MD5 checksums, which provide a "fingerprint" of the original seed. Furthur requires that SHN shows include a valid MD5 checksum (fingerprint). Furthur will perform the additional step of validating the share against its MD5 checksum when it is first shared, which will guarantee that no corrupt shows propagate across the Furthur Network. * Memory/CPU Issues - Many of the memory issues have been resolved. This version of Furthur seems to maintain a typical RAM footprint of 10-25 MB, however it has not yet been verified over a long period of uptime. CPU usage is typically less than 10%, although it will rise temporarily when a complete download file is being extracted to disk or when an MD5 checksum is generated. * Antelope Technology Fixes - There were a number of bugs in the initial release of Antelope which have been fixed. Downloads can sustain connections with multiple hosts. Remember, Antelope means to grab parts of a fileset from different users, thus greatly increasing your download speed! * Automatic Sharing - The interface which allows creation of a new show (fileset) has been improved drastically. New shows can now be added much faster than before. It works as follows: - Click the "Add Fileset" button on the Share Tab - A file chooser will be opened to the last folder you shared from - You may choose to add a folder, in which all of its contents will be recursively added - You may multi-select specific files using standard Shift and Ctrl key selection rules - Click "Done", the format, band, date, setlist, venue, city, and comments will automatically be populated, and the show will be shared (pending MD5 generation) - We will soon make this algorithm more intelligent so that it can interpret many different naming conventions, but for now it will only be able to interpret a folder which follows the standard etree conventions: "gd1969-03-01.shnf", "gd1969-03-01.shn", and "gd1969-03-01" would be valid - If Furthur is unable to determine the show's attributes from the folder name, then you will still be able to specify them in the attribute tab like you did previously * Legal Trading Functionality - Starting with this version, Furthur will facilitate trading of legal music only. The decision to include this functionality was made by the users and fans, by overwhelming majority. The list of legal bands is updated every time Furthur is restarted, so new bands can be easily added at any time. (This interface does not compromise the non-central server architecture of Furthur. If the band list server is inaccessible, a locally cached copy is used) We will soon have an interface that allows addition of legally tradable artists. Until then, you may request a band be added by emailing [EMAIL PROTECTED]. Remember that it's in our own best interest to keep the Furthur Network legal, and to not get shut down by the industry organizations, such as the RIAA. I don't know of any other peer-to-peer networks dedicated to only legal trading, so it's kind of a momentous step we're taking. I promise, there is such a wealth of incredible music that is legal to trade, that we won't regret this decision. * Chat Functionality - The chat problems which we've experienced with recent versions have been resolved, and all chat functionality should be restored in v1.5.1. * Download Window - Double-clicking on an active download will launch a download information window. This window provides: percent complete, download speed, total data received, number of data sources (if you're downloading from multiple hosts), reshare upstream speed, and time remaining. * Search Enhancements - The table will now display the number of available hosts for each show in the list. If this number is high, you are likely to obtain an Antelope download from more than one host. The search list will never display shows that are already in either your partials list or in your shares list. A show you do not have will appear in the search list. Once you initiate a download it will move to the partials list. Once you complete the download, it will move to the share list. * Network Messaging Protocol - The underlying protocol has been streamlined to use minimal bandwidth. A great deal of extraneous data that was being passed around the network has been removed. * Folder naming - All folders will be named according to common conventions all lower case: <band abbreviation><date:YYYY-MM-DD>.<format>f * Browser Launching in WinMe - A change was made which should allow Furthur to launch your default browser on Windows Me. This hasn't been tested, let me know if it doesn't work. * Search Result Sorting - The search results list will now maintain sort order as new additions come in. Backward Compatibility Issues in Version v1.5.1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Due to all the new functionality, Furthur v1.5.1 will be totally non-backward compatible. The most important reason why this is necessary is to filter out corrupt filesets (shows) from the Furthur Network. Software development efforts almost always take advantage of multiple data regions: a development database, a test database, a production database, etc. FurthurNet beta up until now has served as our test database. Bugs in the software and missing functionality have allowed corrupt data to pervade the network. We feel ready to begin building the real Furthur Network, and we hope that this network will serve as a robust foundation for a live platform that can support millions of jam-music fans at a time. The down-sides are: * Loss of Shares - All previously shared shows will disappear in version v1.5.1. Although they will need to be created again, the automatic cataloging functionality will make this many times faster and easier than it was before. * Loss of Partials - Any partially downloaded shows will not be able to be resumed in v1.5.1 or above. This is primarily because of missing MD5 information and incompatible attribute data with old partials. If you have a show that is almost complete, you may want to wait to upgrade to v1.5.1 until you've completed it. If everyone sharing the show upgrades to v1.5.1, however, you'll be out of luck. This is obviously a drag, but it had to happen eventually if we wanted to enhance the system. * MP3 Validation - Unfortunately, MP3 files do not have a fingerprint associated with them like SHNs do. Therefore, it is impossible for Furthur to determine the integrity of an MP3 share. There are some MP3 files circulating on the current network that are corrupt, have loud blips, cut off songs, etc. Please share only MP3 shows that you have listened to and have verified as in good condition. I have plenty of MP3s that I love to
listen
to even though they aren't the best quality, so of course you should share any show that you think others will enjoy listening to. This is simply a request not to share shows that you downloaded with on older version of Furthur which you don't know if they completed successfully or not. * Instability Potential - We have been rigorously testing the new version, and we believe that it is working as intended. However, introduction of so much new functionality definitely has the ability to create new bugs. Furthur beta has gone through phases of stability, new functionality, instability, stability many times over the recent months. We hope this will not be the case, but be aware that version 1.5.1 may be less stable than 1.4.0 was. Remember that we're still in the beta phase, and any new issues will be resolved just as previous ones were. * Bugs - Bug reports should be submitted through the Help->Submit Bug Report menu option in Furthur, which leads to http://www.cyberial.com/furthur/submitbugreport.asp. Many thanks to the Furthur software development team, especially Chris Bick for solving the memory leak issues and Jamie Shamas for fixing chat functionality. As always, any feedback is appreciated. Feel free to email me directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED] if you have any questions or concerns. - Jamie |
