On Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 5:39 PM, Bram Neijt<[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi list and Anthony, > > I've placed my comments inline below. > On Mon, 2009-08-24 at 13:50 -0700, Ant Bryan wrote: >> I've expanded the introduction and changed the abstract. any comments? >> >> >> Abstract >> >> This document specifies Metalink, an XML-based download description >> format. Metalink describes alternate download locations (mirrors), >> checksums, and other information so file transfers are more reliable >> and able to transparently recover from errors. > I think the last line is to long, see if you can split it up into > multiple or remove some words or "and" clauses. > >> >> 1. Introduction >> >> Metalink is an XML-based document format that describes a file or >> lists of files to be added to a download queue. Metalinks can list a >> number of files, each with an extensible set of attached metadata. For >> example, each file can have a description, checksum, and list of URIs >> that it is available from. >> >> Downloads are sometimes offered at a centralized location. Identical >> copies of a file are frequently accessible in multiple locations on >> the Internet over a variety of protocols (FTP, HTTP, and Peer-to- >> Peer). > > The second sentence doesn't seem to point back to the first sentence, which > makes the first sentence seem obsolete. > Something like "identical copies of these files" maybe? > >> Users are shown a list of these multiple download locations >> (mirrors) and must manually select a single one on the basis of >> geographical location, priority, or bandwidth. This distributes the >> load across multiple servers. At times, individual servers can be >> slow, outdated, or unreachable, but this can not be determined until >> the download has been initiated. This can lead to cancelling the >> download and needing to restart it. > cancelling is a word my spelchecker doesn't like. Maybe write around it > to be sure, something like "this forces the user to cancel the download > and restart it"?
another way to spell canceling. >> During downloads, errors in >> transmission can corrupt the file. There are no easy ways to repair >> these files. For large downloads this can be extremely troublesome. >> Any of the number of problems that can occur with a download lead to >> frustration on the part of normal users. > "can occur during a download"? I'd also change "normal users" into > "general user" or "end user" or just simply "user". (Saying "they" are > normal makes me feel like a nerd instead of a geek ;) ) > >> >> All the information about a download, including mirrors, checksums, >> digital signatures, and other information can be stored in a machine- >> readable Metalink file. This Metalink file transfers the knowledge of >> the download server (and mirror database) to the client. With this >> knowledge, the client is enabled to work its way to a successful >> download even under adverse circumstances. > liked that part very much. that's Peter's! I need to finish watching his FOSDEM presentation & maybe incorporate more of his stuff... >> All this is done >> transparently to the user and the download is much more reliable and >> efficient. In contrast, a traditional HTTP redirect to a mirror >> conveys only extremely minimal information - one link to one server, >> and there is no provision in the HTTP protocol to handle failures. >> Other features that some clients provide include multi-source >> downloads, where chunks of a file are downloaded from multiple mirrors >> simultaneously and frequently results in a faster download. > "which frequently results in a faster download". Abstract This document specifies Metalink, an XML-based download description format. Metalink describes alternate download locations (mirrors), checksums, and other information. Clients can transparently use this information to reliably transfer files. 1. Introduction Metalink is an XML-based document format that describes a file or lists of files to be added to a download queue. Metalinks can list a number of files, each with an extensible set of attached metadata. For example, each file can have a description, checksum, and list of URIs that it is available from. Identical copies of a file are frequently accessible in multiple locations on the Internet over a variety of protocols (FTP, HTTP, and Peer-to-Peer). Users are shown a list of these multiple download locations (mirrors) and must manually select a single one on the basis of geographical location, priority, or bandwidth. This distributes the load across multiple servers. At times, individual servers can be slow, outdated, or unreachable, but this can not be determined until the download has been initiated. This can lead to the user canceling the download and needing to restart it. During downloads, errors in transmission can corrupt the file. There are no easy ways to repair these files. For large downloads this can be extremely troublesome. Any of the number of problems that can occur during a download lead to frustration on the part of users. All the information about a download, including mirrors, checksums, digital signatures, and other information can be stored in a machine-readable Metalink file. This Metalink file transfers the knowledge of the download server (and mirror database) to the client. With this knowledge, the client is enabled to work its way to a successful download even under adverse circumstances. All this is done transparently to the user and the download is much more reliable and efficient. In contrast, a traditional HTTP redirect to a mirror conveys only extremely minimal information - one link to one server, and there is no provision in the HTTP protocol to handle failures. Other features that some clients provide include multi-source downloads, where chunks of a file are downloaded from multiple mirrors (and optionally, Peer-to-Peer) simultaneously which frequently results in a faster download. -- (( Anthony Bryan ... Metalink [ http://www.metalinker.org ] )) Easier, More Reliable, Self Healing Downloads --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Metalink Discussion" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/metalink-discussion?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
