<s>
giFT	O
Internet	O
File	O
Transfer	O
(	O
giFT	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
computer	B-Operating_System
software	I-Operating_System
daemon	I-Operating_System
that	O
allows	O
several	O
file	O
sharing	O
protocols	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
with	O
a	O
simple	O
client	O
having	O
a	O
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
(	O
GUI	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
client	O
dynamically	O
loads	O
plugins	B-Application
implementing	O
the	O
protocols	O
,	O
as	O
they	O
are	O
required	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clients	O
implementing	O
frontends	O
for	O
the	O
giFT	O
daemon	B-Operating_System
communicate	O
with	O
its	O
process	O
using	O
a	O
lightweight	O
network	O
protocol	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
allows	O
the	O
networking	O
protocol	O
code	O
to	O
be	O
completely	O
abstracted	O
from	O
the	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
giFT	O
daemon	B-Operating_System
is	O
written	O
using	O
relatively	O
cross-platform	B-Operating_System
C	B-Language
code	O
,	O
which	O
means	O
that	O
it	O
can	O
be	O
compiled	O
for	O
and	O
executed	O
on	O
a	O
big	O
variety	O
of	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
several	O
giFT	O
GUI	B-Application
front-ends	B-General_Concept
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
Apple	B-Device
Macintosh	I-Device
,	O
and	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
,	O
giFT	O
lacks	O
many	O
features	O
needed	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
gnutella	B-Protocol
network	O
effectively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FastTrack	B-Protocol
(	O
used	O
by	O
Kazaa	B-Protocol
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
giFT	O
plugin	B-Application
is	O
giFT-FastTrack	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
giFT	O
's	O
sibling	O
project	O
is	O
OpenFT	O
,	O
a	O
peer-to-peer	O
file-sharing	O
network	O
protocol	O
that	O
has	O
a	O
structure	O
in	O
which	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
are	O
divided	O
into	O
'	O
search	O
 '	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
and	O
'	O
index	O
 '	O
supernodes	B-Protocol
in	O
addition	O
to	O
common	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
both	O
projects	O
are	O
related	O
very	O
closely	O
,	O
when	O
one	O
says	O
'	O
OpenFT	O
 '	O
,	O
one	O
can	O
mean	O
either	O
one	O
of	O
two	O
different	O
things	O
:	O
the	O
OpenFT	O
protocol	O
,	O
or	O
the	O
implementation	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
a	O
plugin	B-Application
for	O
giFT	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
the	O
name	O
OpenFT	O
stands	O
for	O
"	O
Open	O
FastTrack	B-Protocol
"	O
,	O
the	O
OpenFT	O
protocol	O
is	O
an	O
entirely	O
new	O
protocol	O
design	O
:	O
only	O
a	O
few	O
ideas	O
in	O
the	O
OpenFT	O
protocol	O
are	O
drawn	O
from	O
what	O
little	O
was	O
known	O
about	O
the	O
FastTrack	B-Protocol
protocol	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
OpenFT	O
was	O
designed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
FastTrack	B-Protocol
and	O
Napster	B-Application
,	O
OpenFT	O
is	O
a	O
network	O
where	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
submit	O
lists	O
of	O
shared	O
files	O
to	O
other	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
to	O
keep	O
track	O
of	O
which	O
files	O
are	O
available	O
on	O
the	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
reduces	O
the	O
bandwidth	O
consumed	O
from	O
search	O
requests	O
at	O
the	O
price	O
of	O
additional	O
memory	O
and	O
processing	O
power	O
on	O
the	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
that	O
store	O
that	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
transmission	O
of	O
shared	O
lists	O
is	O
not	O
fully	O
recursive	O
:	O
a	O
node	B-Protocol
will	O
only	O
transmit	O
its	O
list	O
of	O
shared	O
files	O
to	O
a	O
single	O
search	O
node	B-Protocol
randomly	O
chosen	O
as	O
that	O
node	B-Protocol
's	O
"	O
parent	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
list	O
of	O
those	O
files	O
will	O
not	O
be	O
further	O
transmitted	O
to	O
other	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
.	O
</s>
<s>
OpenFT	O
is	O
also	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
gnutella	B-Protocol
network	O
in	O
that	O
search	O
requests	O
are	O
recursively	O
forwarded	O
in	O
between	O
the	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
that	O
keep	O
track	O
of	O
the	O
shared	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
three	O
different	O
kinds	O
of	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
on	O
the	O
OpenFT	O
network	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
are	O
USER	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
;	O
these	O
have	O
no	O
special	O
function	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
handle	O
search	O
requests	O
;	O
they	O
search	O
the	O
filelists	O
their	O
CHILD	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
(	O
explained	O
below	O
)	O
submit	O
to	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
must	O
have	O
a	O
capable	O
Internet	O
connection	O
and	O
at	O
least	O
128M	O
RAM	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nodes	B-Data_Structure
with	O
fast	O
connections	O
and	O
much	O
memory	O
can	O
be	O
INDEX	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
,	O
which	O
keep	O
lists	O
of	O
available	O
search	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
,	O
collect	O
statistics	O
,	O
and	O
try	O
to	O
maintain	O
the	O
structure	O
of	O
the	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
node	B-Protocol
can	O
be	O
both	O
a	O
SEARCH	O
and	O
an	O
INDEX	O
node	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
USER	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
will	O
pick	O
three	O
SEARCH	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
to	O
be	O
their	O
PARENT	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
default	O
,	O
SEARCH	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
will	O
be	O
PARENTS	O
for	O
a	O
maximum	O
of	O
500	O
CHILD	O
nodes	B-Data_Structure
.	O
</s>
<s>
File	O
Sharing	O
with	O
Apollon	B-Language
and	O
GiFT	O
,	O
Linux	O
Magazine	O
issue	O
55	O
,	O
June	O
2005	O
,	O
pp	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Chat	O
with	O
other	O
Apollon	B-Language
users	O
1.0.2.1	O
(	O
2005-05-08	O
)	O
apollon.sourceforge.net	O
KCeasyThomas	O
Mennecke	O
(	O
September	O
5	O
,	O
2004	O
)	O
Getting	O
Into	O
KCeasy	O
,	O
Slyck.comKCEasy	O
Review	O
FileSharingZ.com	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
GPL	B-License
Includes	O
a	O
media	O
player	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
,	O
included	O
the	O
giFT-FastTrack	O
plugin	B-Application
,	O
to	O
connect	O
to	O
Kazaa	B-Protocol
and	O
Kazaa	B-Protocol
Lite	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Version	O
0.12	O
and	O
later	O
he	O
removed	O
the	O
giFT-FastTrack	O
plug-in	B-Application
in	O
order	O
to	O
avoid	O
a	O
legal	O
fight	O
with	O
Sharman	B-Protocol
Networks	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
FastTrack	B-Protocol
plug-in	B-Application
is	O
still	O
being	O
developed	O
and	O
is	O
available	O
from	O
a	O
third-party	O
website	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Upgrading	O
from	O
previous	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
program	O
will	O
not	O
remove	O
the	O
giFT-FastTrack	O
plug-in	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
better	O
suited	O
for	O
older	O
hardware	O
PoisonedJohn	O
Borland	O
,	O
Macintosh	B-Device
users	O
join	O
Kazaa	B-Protocol
network	O
,	O
CNET	O
News	O
,	O
November	O
19	O
,	O
2003Thomas	O
Mennecke	O
,	O
Poisoned	O
:	O
Bringing	O
FastTrack	B-Protocol
to	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
Community	O
,	O
November	O
21	O
,	O
2003	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
GPL	B-License
Its	O
name	O
is	O
a	O
pun	O
on	O
the	O
German	O
word	O
Gift	O
(	O
which	O
means	O
poison	O
in	O
English	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
