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https://github.com/mbologna/bitfountain

A BitTorrent application (based on the source from Bram Cohen's one) that uses Digital Fountain erasure recovery codes to exchange data pieces (pro: robustness, speed)
https://github.com/mbologna/bitfountain

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A BitTorrent application (based on the source from Bram Cohen's one) that uses Digital Fountain erasure recovery codes to exchange data pieces (pro: robustness, speed)

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README 

        
About BitTorrent:

=================



BitTorrent is a tool for distributing files. It's extremely easy to

use - downloads are started by clicking on hyperlinks.  Whenever more

than one person is downloading at once they send pieces of the file(s)

to each other, thus relieving the central server's bandwidth

burden. Even with many simultaneous downloads, the upload burden on

the central server remains quite small, since each new downloader

introduces new upload capacity.



Instructions for users:

=======================



Once you install BitTorrent, you should be able to download .torrent

files.  If you have any questions, please read the FAQ:



http://www.bittorrent.com/FAQ.html



If you find a bug, check the FAQ for your bug.  If your bug is not in

the FAQ, please send email to:



bugs at bittorrent.com



Instructions for publishers:

============================



Instructions for trackerless operation are in TRACKERLESS.txt.



To start hosting -



1) start running a tracker



First, you need a tracker. If you're on a dynamic IP or otherwise 

unreliable connection, you should find someone else's tracker and 

use that. Otherwise, follow the rest of this step.



Trackers refer downloaders to each other. The load on the tracker 

is very small, so you only need one for all your files.



To run a tracker, execute the command bittorrent-tracker.py Here is an

example -



./bittorrent-tracker.py --port 6969 --dfile dstate



--dfile is where persistent information is kept on the tracker across 

invocations. It makes everything start working again immediately if 

you restart the tracker. A new one will be created if it doesn't exist 

already.



The tracker must be on a net-addressable box, and you must know the 

ip number or dns name of it.



The tracker outputs web logs to standard out. You can get information 

about the files it's currently serving by getting its index page. 



2) create a torrent file using maketorrent.py (GUI) or

maketorrent-console.py. The GUI version, maketorrent.py is preferred.



To generate a torrent file using maketorrent-console.py and give it the file

you want a torrent for and the url of the tracker



./maketorrent-console.py myfile.ext http://my.tracker:6969/announce



This will generate a file called myfile.ext.torrent



Make sure to include the port number in the tracker url if it isn't 80.



(You may also use maketorrent.py to create trackerless torrents. See

the file TRACKERLESS.txt for information about trackerless operation.)



This command may take a while to scan over the whole file hashing it.



The /announce path is special and hard-coded into the tracker. 

Make sure to give the domain or ip your tracker is on instead of 

my.tracker.



You can use either a dns name or an IP address in the tracker url.



3) associate .torrent with application/x-bittorrent on your web server



The way you do this is dependent on the particular web server you're using.



You must have a web server which can serve ordinary static files and is 

addressable from the internet at large.



4) put the newly made .torrent file on your web server



Note that the file name you choose on the server must end in .torrent, so 

it gets associated with the right mimetype.



5) put up a static page which links to the location you uploaded to in step 4



The file you uploaded in step 4 is linked to using an ordinary url.



6) start a downloader as a resume on the complete file



You have to run a downloader which already has the complete file, 

so new downloaders have a place to get it from. Here's an example -



./bittorrent-console.py --url http://my.server/myfile.torrent --saveas myfile.ext



Make sure the saveas argument points to the already complete file.



If you're running the complete downloader on the same machine or LAN as 

the tracker, give a --ip parameter to the complete downloader. The --ip 

parameter can be either an IP address or DNS name.



BitTorrent defaults to port 6881. If it can't use 6881, (probably because 

another download is happening) it tries 6882, then 6883, etc. It gives up 

after 6889.



7) you're done!



Now you just have to get people downloading! Refer them to the page you 

created in step 5.



BitTorrent can also publish whole directories - simply point

btmaketorrent.py at the directory with files in it, they'll be

published as one unit. All files in subdirectories will be included,

although files and directories named 'CVS', 'core', 'Thumbs.db',

'desktop.ini' and beginning with a dot ('.') are ignored.



Instructions for installation:

==============================



Instructions for Unix installation are in INSTALL.unix.txt



Instructions for Windows installation and creating Windows installers

are in BUILD.windows.txt