Has anyone tried the Gnutella based program BearShare, for file sharing? I have it now, and it's pretty good. Does anyone know of a better peer-to-peer?

I tried Bearshare, and was not impressed. After 4 hours, I managed to get a total of 3 songs. Meanwhile, 3 files at a time were flying off of my drive at any one time. As an experiment, I tried to connect with 6 different users with the same song to see how long it would take to make a connection. After an hour I gave up because all connections were busy or refused. With Napster I could be downloading 3 files at the same time as 3 were going out. I could have 3 files in 10 minutes on any given day . Maybe 'gnutella' based protocol is not compatible with cable modems (LOL). Or maybe people are just not willing to share. I don't mind if a lot more songs are going out than coming in, but if nothing connects in an hour, it's quite frustrating. I'm looking for an alternative myself. Possibly another 'nap' style program. Napster rules!

Napster is the best but also try www.zeropaid.com or www.aimster.com. I think we all should send email to napster to support them and may be they can bring them to court to back theem up .

Original Message Name: Date: February 21, 2001 at 10:09:27 Pacific Subject: Napster Comment: Napster fans worried their freewheeling days of digital downloads are numbered may find relief in an unauthorized Napster add-on that can link them to dozens of renegade Napster servers (and files). The add-on is called Napigator 2.0 and it's made by Thirty4 Interactive. Napigator 2.0 improves on its standalone predecessor Napigator 1.4 by integrating with the Napster client. And it's unaffiliated with Napster. Once installed, Napigator 2.0 appears as a tab in one corner of the Napster client. You can click on it to link to a growing list of so-called OpenNap servers. This global network of servers works just like Napster servers, but is maintained by a group of open-source programmers who reverse-engineered the Napster protocol. Using Napigator 2.0 with a Napster client lets you bypass Napster's network and link to an independent one. Napigator 2.0 is among a growing number of alternatives to Napster, as the music-sharing site's future remains uncertain. After a federal appeals court ruled earlier this week that Napster encourages violation of copyright laws, the site began reinventing itself as a subscription service. Meanwhile, Internet music fans are checking out competing file-sharing programs, in case Napster is shut down or levies membership fees. The newest version of Napigator, the 2.0 plug-in, is downloadable in an alpha version. OpenNap Servers Proliferate Clearly, Napigator is finding a ready audience. As of Friday, it lists 287 OpenNap servers with files to share, compared with Napster's 56. "Napigator offers a service that Napster isn't offering and apparently a lot of users want," says Chad Boyda, cofounder of Thirty4.com. Boyda says Napigator points about 180,000 users to OpenNap servers each day. The company clocked 1.6 million users of the software last month, and expects 1.8 million in February. Servers play a vital role for Napster by acting as a huge card catalog of digital music files. You can search this index for songs, and when you find what you want, Napster points you to PCs with that song on their hard drives. Boyda says Napster is unaware of Napigator 2.0, which differs from the earlier edition by actually plugging into the Napster client. Napster concurs, and representatives decline to comment on the new rival. The chief advantage of Napigator 2.0 is its ease of use, marrying the Napster client with OpenNap servers. This may draw the millions of people with only basic computer skills and little interest in fussing with other Napster competitors. Many of them are peer-to-peer clients that are more difficult to use, such as Gnutella and Freenet. Napigator's Challenges Despite its audience, Napigator faces challenges as the next potential Napster. Its OpenNap servers outnumber those of Napster, but many are inferior to Napster's. They include everything from high-end PCs located in basements to big-iron servers operated by companies like MusicCity.com that are tepidly following Napster's lead. OpenNap is also, predictably, raising hackles at the Recording Industry Association of America, which wants to shut down those servers. They view OpenNap as an extension of what they consider Napster's illegal service. RIAA brought the original copyright infringement suit against Napster. "We are not interested in litigating our way though the Internet," says Matthew Oppenheim, RIAA senior vice president of business and legal affairs. "A lot of services out there should read the court decision closely." Boyda isn't worried. "We are confident there is no legal argument to shut us down," he says. Boyda compares his software to a search engine pointing Netizens to OpenNap servers. He says the RIAA hasn't been in contact with his firm. Grassroots Allegiances Grow The largest provider of OpenNap servers, MusicCity.com, is participating with OpenNap but has no formal relationship. "We are taking things on a moment-by-moment basis," says Jeff Hardison, MusicCity.com spokesperson. Operators of OpenNap servers submit the Internet location of servers to Napigator. Napigator then sends spiders to maintain a dynamic list servers accessible within the Napster plug-in. In fact, Napigator is only one of several software clients that offer access to the OpenNap network of servers. Others include MusicCity.com and MyNapster. These utilities let you share multiple file types, rather than just audio files. However, the process also makes OpenNap servers easy to trace, which could make them easy to sue. Meanwhile Thirty4.com is pushing ahead with its business plan. Currently, it makes money from banner ads served inside the Napigator client. The company is also testing a new Amazon.com service called Amazon Honor System, which lets satisfied Napigator users "tip" Thirty4.com as payment.

I like BearShare. So, far it's been more reliable than Napster. But, yes, Napster does rule!

Win Mx (www.winmx.com)Seems better than bear share in that there is more of a diverse range of music shared. It is also faster, but that is debatable. I like the sound of this Napigator 2.0 thing but I am yet to try it.