Ack, my post got deleted ;_; Here's what I can remember about the problems:

1. The 272-ASFs. You know what I'm talking about. Do a search for anything on a well-connected client and you'll see a 272KB ASF file with your search for a filename. Open it up to see some pr0n spam. I think LimeWire has developed a program to make spam like this.
2. The little enabled checkbox on BearShare reading, "Do not accept incoming connections". 5 out of 6 people using Gnutella are relying on the other 1/6 to provide a network.
3. 95% of the files I request don't make it to the computer hosting them. AquaLime simply retries the request until I tell it to stop. What's up with this? Is it a network problem, or is it just because I'm behind a router? It confuses me. ^^;

Let's not forget the problems the trolls love to rant about -- the ambiguously networked duo of LimeWire and BearShare, for example. I know myself that I'm only hooking up to LimeWire clients, even though Gnucleus recently incorporated its own ultrapeer program.

Not quite an argument for OpenSource Buzzword Network, but hey, if we want to make Gnutella a good network, we have to fix what's broken before we can fix what isn't broken.

Really? Did you flame? I wonder because we delete VERY seldom posts!

Morgwen

No, it's people that are too lame to open a port in their firewall and/or people who run windows and have a fear of everything on the net because billy gates won't fix all the security leaks.
You run a firewall out of fear right? You don't know where all those viruses come from so you throw out the baby with the bathwater. You keep the viruses alive by paying virus scanning companies $$, they now have no reason to stop them because now it's their livelyhood.
The viruses come from OUTLOOK EXPRESS and dumb arses at microsoft that think it's cool for a email program and a word processor to have macro commands that are programmable to the point of trashing your computer.
The idea that programs can start up from a "registry" is even more stupid. Get a real OS and see what it's like to have a real computer working for you.

No, IE deleted it for me. I think I'll switch to K-Meleon one of these days.

There are gnutella virii, which could be the source of the pr0n spam you mentioned.

(note that the names given by various companies vary)
http://www.europe.f-secure.com/v-descs/gwv.shtml
http://www.europe.f-secure.com/v-descs/mandra.shtml
http://www3.ca.com/Virus/Virus.asp?ID=9758

Here is <A HREF="http://groups.google.com/groups?q=gnutella+virus+asf&hl=en&lr=lang_en&selm= xE%25Y6.7479%24Cc3.1241047%40news2-win.server.ntlworld.com&rnum=3">some info on averting the virus in .asf files</A>.

Whether it's a virus or the limewire server you mentioned, there's a lot of it about. There is one particular form that I get constantly (mandragore - see links above) in my search results - it answers queries with search results which match exactly the text you searched for. Several copies are returned, with different extensions and appropriate file sizes for the various extensions.

This is bad if you searched for "Metallica - And Justice For All.mp3" because you won't be able to tell which are genuine results in some cases. But it is good if you are smart and search for "mp3 justice metallica all", since the file will clearly be not what you are looking for but a virus.

Of course it is really a problem if you have automated search + download, and not done any sanity check on the search results using a technique like that above. I don't know if current auto-download clients support this type of check, but it would be useful.

Well spotted though on the limewire server. This could also be easily coopted to do the job. I've wondered for some time whether people have their own customised clients which server this way, but no that limewire has provided it, it's a moot point.

It would be desireable if the articles served from a server such as this were marked clearly, something like 'Dynamic content: rest of the filename.ext'.

Also desireable that the server should have a unique ID, not just the same ID as limewire (I don't know if it has or not).
Nos