Former AOLers Bet on Private P2P App

buhatkj writes "Some former AOL staffers have come up with something interesting. Namely, a P2P/instant messaging/groupware tool called Grouper. Sounds to me a bit like the GAIM plugin suggested by downhill battle..."

yup, nullsoft

[Anonymous Coward]

as in waste

Like unix

[Anonymous Coward]

This application is like everyone setting up a web server and a streaming server on their systems (integrated with IM, of course). I always feel nostalgic when functions that I learned with in unix are integrated into the desktop. Remember how 'talk', 'ytalk' and 'finger' was touched up to form IM?

Innovative?

[nate nice]

I'm sure they want (or have) patent's on this. So I gues Hotline, Carracho, KDX and all the other programs like this don't count. I don't see why this will make much money as Hotline tried to go commercial and it flopped. I mean, you can't really sell pirating software to pirates, can you?

Not that this doesn't have legit uses, but I hope these dudes are better marketers than they are innovators.

Open question for Justin Frankel....

[GeneralEmergency]

Justin...

Just what is it about working for AOL that makes people want to design and distribute software that ' sticks it to the MAN '?

Is it the bad coffee, doyathink?

MOD PARENT UP!

[mrchaotica]

This sounds almost exactly like WASTE, and being made by a "former AOL employee" is too much of a coincidence. Either this is WASTE, or it was "inspired" by WASTE.

But either way, it's closed source -- so what's the point? It's not as if it had a head start or anything; you might as well just use the Free version.

like gaim?

[Anonymous Coward]

this app needs m$ .NET runtimes. so i just cancelled the setup

Prediction for next generation file sharing

[sokk]

When I got on the internet for the first time I was on dial-up. It cost money to stay on the net. My first thought was to download as much as I could, so that I could use it when I needed it (Downloading whole sites for offline viewing pleasure. Eg. Code sample archives).

I felt that way about programs too. I had to download them to my computer. I burned them out and archived them, just in case I would need them for a reinstall or for a friend.

Nowadays I seldom keep the installation program of applications. Why? Because I know they're out there. I can get them at a moments notice. How come? I've got a broadband connection now.

This is how I feel the next generation file sharing will become. Currently everyone is downloading everything. To have it handy. To use it. It doesn't need to be like that. I don't yet know how the technical solutions will be (if they ever will).

Imagine: A world wide archive of music at your fingertips. You don't have (much) of it at your hard drive, because it's accessible through the net. You have your favorite music "bookmarked" to make your collection. Music playback is instantly - because of the evolution of the speed of the net, and the evolution of the file sharing technology.

You won't have to think about "the files" as files. You think of them as entities. Always accessible.

You'll (as mentioned) probably have to keep a part of the world wide collection at your hard drive. (If it can't be stored at the net, always flowing).

Well, some of my thoughts. :). I know it's pretty far out, but it would've been neat. Any thougts?

Re:Prediction for next generation file sharing

[Anonymous Coward]

> Imagine: A world wide archive of music at your fingertips. You don't have (much) of it at your hard drive, because it's accessible through the net. You have your favorite music "bookmarked" to make your collection. Music playback is instantly - because of the evolution of the speed of the net, and the evolution of the file sharing technology.

I can imagine that world. And I can imagine the lawyers destroying that world because it threatens their clients' business model.

I'd like to live in that world, but I'm stuck in this one. So if it's something I might want to keep, I download. Hard drives are cheap and backups can be stored offsite.

Once the upstream end is (DMCA'd, goes bankrupt, bought out by a competitor, has a bad marketing day and decides to nuke all drivers for earlier products) gone, the data's gone with it.

"What good is a fat pipe, Mr. Anderson, if no data flows through it?"