I am new to the Gnutella network and am running Gnotella. It works fine, but I dont't understand certain things regarding the initial connections made upon launching the program:

--There seems to be a large number of hosts available by default when initiating connections. Where do these host names and adresses come from? Are they included with the the program? Does the program have a way of finding hosts, and if so, how? Is any active computer with a Gnutella client running a potential host?

--Is there a difference between a host and my computer as it is logged on the Gnutella Network? Can I be a host for someone else?

--There seem to be some "master hosts" such as "router.limewire.com". If all these master hosts where to be shutdown, would the network still work?

--Hoping to have understood the preceeding, I would like to know where to get an updated list of hosts to add to my host list.

Maybe someone can answer these questions or point me to a web site that does. I have gone through the sites of Gnotella, Bearshare and Limewire, without finding the answers to most of these questions. The available information is either too superficial or overly technical.

Thanks

Perplex