[p2p-hackers] Announcement: FeedTree (RSS over p2p)

[Dan Sandler]

We are pleased to announce the availability of FeedTree, a
peer-to-peer distribution system for RSS and Atom feed updates.

   #  For the impatient:
   #  Details and downloads at http://feedtree.net/

FeedTree reduces the bandwidth burden of offering news feeds,
while at the same time allowing feed updates to reach end
users faster than before (within seconds, not hours).  Users
of FeedTree form a peer-to-peer network which is used to
disseminate new feed events; this multicast (built on Scribe)
is an efficient group notification mechanism which spreads the
burden of distributing feed data among the feed's subscribers.

Our software (available now) includes:

   * The FeedTree Proxy, an end-user Java application which
     allows *existing* RSS reading apps to receive updates
     via the FeedTree network. The proxy also works with
     current RSS and Atom feeds, polling them as necessary and
     sharing new content with other FeedTree users.

   * The FeedTree Publisher, an optional tool allowing feed
     authors to "push" updates to FeedTree users immediately.
     It runs alongside existing RSS/Atom feeds, so it works
     with all existing CMSes and weblog engines.
     The publisher also allows publishers to add digital
     signatures to their feeds (helping nodes verify the
     authenticity of updates).

More information, including research papers, documentation,
source code, and bug reporting can be found on the FeedTree
website: http://feedtree.net/ .  We'd love to hear about your
experiences using the system, as well as any other feedback
you might have.

FeedTree is an ongoing project of researchers in the Rice
University Computer Science Department.

--
Dan Sandler
dsandler at cs.rice.edu
http://www.cs.rice.edu/~dsandler/