From LQWiki

giFT was originally intended to be a Linux client for the FastTrack network (KaZaA), hence the name. The development did not run as expected and instead they created their own protocol called OpenFT. In addition to running this network, it is also able to connect to the Gnutella network and FastTrack networks. Probably the cleverest bit about giFT, however, is that the giFT program itself runs as a server, and not a single P2P entity, such as programs like gtk-gnutella. Individual users are then able to run their own choice of giFT client, for example giFTcurs (ncurses based *nix client) or giFTwin32 which is, quite amazingly, a win32 client. This flexibility opens up a lot of potential. As all the actual downloading and searching is actually still done by a single daemon running on a server (which could still naturally be your own machine) you only have one entity using your bandwidth and other users local to your network can set files to download from their desktop, and then turn their machine off. Alternatively web based clients are available, so you could get your home pc downloading data from the comfort of an internet cafe, or your office at work.

A very flexible bit of kit, once you know what the deal is!

See also

• File sharing

External links

• The giFT Project website (gift.sourceforge.net)