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Decentralized Clients

This list is not exhaustive.

Please also see The Halls Of The Dead for other clients and projects which have gone quiet.

MLdonkey - Open-Source, Multi-platform (Linux, BSD, Windows, Mac), Multiprotocol - Control from the command-line, Web and Gtk GUI. 3rd party frontends also exist.

Antsp2p - Third generation open source Java implementation of a P2P network with hashing and privacy features.

Blubster - another alternative that uses the Gnutella networks. MP3 searching only.

Freenet - (Java, Unix, Windows) - Completely anonymous information exchange. Data is routed through several hops and cached on each one. Files are stored using hashes of keys, so servers don't know what they're storing: If you request a key like "xxx.jpg" it is hashed and then requested. Routes are optimized according to lexicalic closeness of hashes -- so the network gets faster the longer it runs. Very interesting. Follow this one closely. Freeweb | Sourceforge page is a Win32 UI for easier publishing. See also the Freenet Mailing Lists for lots of good discussion.

GNUnet -- GNU's attempt to create an anonymous, distributed, reputation based network.

Jungle Monkey - (Unix) - JM is similar to Gnutella, with a tree-like network architecture and data exchange organized in channels (there are announcement channels where you can learn about the existing channels). Non anonymous. Very interesting nevertheless. Windows port is in the making.

Konspire/konspire2b - Similar to OpenNap, with a distributed server architecture. However, while OpenNap spreads a message across the network of servers and each server responds individually to the searching client, konspire tries to maintain a complete index of all files on each server. Therefore, searches are very fast. The network should also be pretty scalable, although it is more attackable than a totally distributed one. (Compromise between scalability and security.) Mass-scale content distribution. Client/Node subscripe to channels and recive all incomming files from the channel. Broadcasters can create channels and broadcast files to all the nodes. GUI is a web browser interface.

Mnet | Sourceforge page - This is a fork from Mojo Nation (Sourceforge page) - Mnet is an open-source fork of the MojoNation content distribution technology which has simplified some of the key features of the original Mojo Nation system to try and create a distributed internet-scale content distribution platform. See also the Developer Mailing List.

MUTE - A file sharing network that uses virtual addresses (instead of IP addresses) and ant-inspired routing algorithms to protect the privacy of both downloaders and uploaders (in other words, defeat RIAA spy tactics).

Myster | Sourceforge page - A "capitalist" file sharing network that dynamically ranks the most reliable servers and allows node operators to run advertising banners on their servers.]

NetMess | GNU Page - NetMess is a peer-to-peer file sharing system. Its advantages over other p2p systems include clone detection and the ability to work through an HTTP proxy and through most firewalls (both inbound and outbound). It is decentralized and does not depend on a master server, so it can run in a LAN environment (useful as an information sharing system for small to middle-sized company). It lets its users search and retrieve documents without having to remember their exact location, and can share all file types (audio, video, archives, etc).
- Project appears to have died as of 25 Nov '04

Overnet - File sharing implementation of the Kademlia algorithm. Gaining popularity. Overnet uses the same file transfert system as eDonkey2000 but use a separate network to solve the scalability problems that the eDonkey2000 system displayed with increasing popularity.

Porndigger - (requires IE) - "Napster for porn"; i.e. image/video sharing. Distributed network architecture, allows you to browse users' collections with thumbnails. Closed Source protocol.
- Website down as of 25 Nov '04.

Project ELF - Described as a "virtual data haven", ELF combines concepts of Gnutella & Freenet. It allows multi-source downloads, and all downloads are routed through several hosts to anonymize them.
- Website down as of 25 Nov '04.

SpookShare | Sourceforge page - (Perl) - SpookShare is a HTTP server announcement and searching protocol using Perl. If you run a HTTP server, you can share the files through SpookShare, other users will then be able to search your HTTP server as part of the SpookShare network. Of limited interest for typical end users.

URLBlaze - (requires IE) - A tool for sharing URLs instead of files. It tracks your IE downloads and shares the URLs automatically on a p2p network.

WASTE = An anonymous, secure, and encrypted collaboration tool which allows users to both share ideas through the chat interface and share data through the download system.