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Subject: Re: Nalimov Endgame tablebases

Author: Kirill Kryukov

Date: 08:03:23 11/10/05

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Hi Zheng,

>Yes as you said Emule is okay. But Edonkey (which you mention) isn't.

I don't recommend using eDonkey software, and I never did. It used to bundle
spyware in the past, and it's not free, it shows ads, and it has closed source
so only its developers know what it's really doing on your machine.

>But bittorrent is getting really popular as Vincent says. I would prefer if it
>was on the bittorrent,

While BitTorrent is also OK for sharing tablebases, eMule is more suitable for
long-term sharing of 1 TB of data, as I said earlier. BitTorrent is more fit for
relatively short time 'release' of some new files. It is not particularly good
for long-term sharing, or for sharing of too much volume of data. I will explain
in detail.

Original BitTorrent is not decentralized - every shared file must have a
'tracker'. When the 'tracker' goes down - no one can download the file anymore.
The user who shared the file first creates and hosts the 'tracker'. This scheme
is good for release of a new file, when 'releaser' has a web-server and when he
is sure he can host the 'tracker' for long enough time. For example a number of
linux distros are using this way of distribution.

On the other hand, tablebase sharing is done by ordinary chess hobbyists like
you and me. Many of us don't have a web-server, many of us don't keep our
machines on day and night, etc.. And even if someone can take on the
responsibility to host the 'trackers', who can guarantee that his 'trackers'
will be online in one or two years?

Chess rules are not likely to change soon, so the Nalimov endgame tablebases are
here to stay for many years to come. At least 6-men tablebases that we will use
in 10 years will probably be the same ones we are using now. For such long-term
project eMule is more suitable. Decentralized system based on using both eD2K
and KAD networks is very robust, and no one has to take any obligations or
responsibility - anyone can join, download files, and keep them shared for a
while. Several times on eDonkey network I could find files that I used to share
and deleted about three years ago. Someone else kept them shared, and now I
still can download them. This is what we hope to achieve with EGTB sharing -
constant availability, in long term.

One can say that recent BitTorrent is going 'trackerless', but officially it is
still Beta software, while eD2K network and eMule software are stable for
several years. (Although KAD network is recent addition).

One detail. When I tried BitTorrent last time I found that many BitTorrent
clients limit the number of files you can share. I don't know if it's still the
case, but eMule does not limit number of shared files in any way, you can share
hundreds of files without any issues.

Also, while I agree that BitTorrent is popular, you can't claim that eDonkey
network is not popular. After all, eDonkey is _the most popular_ p2p network
currently, according to the number of studies. For example Slyck
(http://www.slyck.com/index.php) shows up to date statistics.

Best,
Kirill





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