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Ask HN: I've Built a DHT Torrent Sniffer and Search Engine. Should I Release?

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Re: Ask HN: I've Built a DHT Torrent Sniffer and Search Engine. Should I Release?

#41

Post by dhaavi »

synctext wrote: post #30
dhaavi wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tribler is an interesting project, but not directly comparable to what the OP is trying to achieve.

indeed, bit different. lots of people worked in this field and made these tools. Around 2014 the state of the art was 20k DHT responses per second, see '100 million DHT replies'. https://doi.org/10.1109/P2P.2014.6934318

Thanks for the pointer!

I just read some interesting proposals in the GH issues and recognized your username. This is some nice piece of work - will definitely return to read more about the underlying concepts.

We are working in a similar area with similar problems: Building a new Tor/VPN-like privacy network. See https://safing.io/spn/

Re: Ask HN: I've Built a DHT Torrent Sniffer and Search Engine. Should I Release?

#42

Post by webmobdev »

MattPalmer1086 wrote: post #33
Eduard wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very good suggestion, considering the sniffer could be used by copyright claims lawyers.

Can't see how AGPL would stop anyone using it. Doesn't it just prevent them from modifying the source code without sharing their changes. ?

AGPL fixes a "bug" in GPL that many tech companies have exploited to not release modified source code as the GPL requires. Simply put, GPL says that you have to release the complete source code (including any changes you have made) of a GPL licensed code only if you distribute it to other users. Many tech companies thus avoided GPL code. But with the growth of Software-as-a-Service, where an application only runs on the server and is accessed through a browser or an app, many of these same companies created web applications with GPL code that they customised. However, if a user demanded the source code of the GPL code, along with the modifications they made, the tech companies refused to provide it claiming they weren't "distributing" the application (as in giving you the whole application to run on your computer). And since they weren't doing that they claimed they had no legal obligation to release the complete source code.

AGPL fixes this - it recognizes SaaS web applications too as a "distribution" of GPL software. So if a source code is licensed under AGPL, anyone who uses it to create web applications and makes it available to the public is now also legally obliged to provide the complete source code if any user requests for it. (And ofcourse, as with GPL the user is free to use the source code as they want, freedom to improve it, and even start competing SaaS services).

That is why the AGPL is currently the best GNU license to ensure that your open source code always remains open source.

Re: Ask HN: I've Built a DHT Torrent Sniffer and Search Engine. Should I Release?

#43

Post by simjnd »

synctext wrote: post #32
peterkelly wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP said they already have a working system. How well it works remains to be seen, until it's publicly available. On what basis do you assume he/she has not succeeded without even having seen their work?

We tried too. Several people have made DHT sniffers, including our lab. You see lots of spam and get stuck. Filtering out the noise is weirdly hard.

So you're assuming they cannot possibly have succeeded simply because you failed?

Re: Ask HN: I've Built a DHT Torrent Sniffer and Search Engine. Should I Release?

#44

Post by simjnd »

dhaavi wrote: post #41
synctext wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

indeed, bit different. lots of people worked in this field and made these tools. Around 2014 the state of the art was 20k DHT responses per second, see '100 million DHT replies'. https://doi.org/10.1109/P2P.2014.6934318

Thanks for the pointer! I just read some interesting proposals in the GH issues and recognized your username. This is some nice piece of work - will definitely return to read more about the underlying concepts. We are working in a similar area with similar problems: Building a new Tor/VPN-like privacy network. See https://safing.io/spn/

Taking this chance to say thank you for Safing Portmaster it is awesome!

Re: Ask HN: I've Built a DHT Torrent Sniffer and Search Engine. Should I Release?

#46

Post by Shadowed_ »

webmobdev wrote: post #42
MattPalmer1086 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't see how AGPL would stop anyone using it. Doesn't it just prevent them from modifying the source code without sharing their changes. ?

AGPL fixes a "bug" in GPL that many tech companies have exploited to not release modified source code as the GPL requires. Simply put, GPL says that you have to release the complete source code (including any changes you have made) of a GPL licensed code only if you distribute it to other users. Many tech companies thus avoided GPL code. But with the growth of Software-as-a-Service, where an application only runs on…

How would someone know if SaaS uses some AGPL code?

Re: Ask HN: I've Built a DHT Torrent Sniffer and Search Engine. Should I Release?

#48

Post by kruuuder »

Shadowed_ wrote: post #46
webmobdev wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AGPL fixes a "bug" in GPL that many tech companies have exploited to not release modified source code as the GPL requires. Simply put, GPL says that you have to release the complete source code (including any changes you have made) of a GPL licensed code only if you distribute it to other users. Many tech companies thus avoided GPL code. But with the growth of Software-as-a-Service, where an application only runs on…

How would someone know if SaaS uses some AGPL code?

In general, you don't, but that's a different question.

Re: Ask HN: I've Built a DHT Torrent Sniffer and Search Engine. Should I Release?

#49

Post by IYasha »

someotherperson wrote: post #37
pharmakom wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who is funding it and why?

If you follow through to the site linked in the Github: > Tribler is a research project of Delft University of Technology > Work on Tribler has been supported by multiple Internet research European grants. In total we received 3,538,609 Euro in funding for our open source self-organising systems research. Roughly 10 to 15 scientists and engineers work on it full-time. Our ambition is to make darknet technology, secur…

The "robust reputation systems" made me twitch a bit...

Re: Ask HN: I've Built a DHT Torrent Sniffer and Search Engine. Should I Release?

#50

Post by synctext »

simjnd wrote: post #43
synctext wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We tried too. Several people have made DHT sniffers, including our lab. You see lots of spam and get stuck. Filtering out the noise is weirdly hard.

So you're assuming they cannot possibly have succeeded simply because you failed?

these things need spam measures to work. That was not listed as a feature.
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