[Xastir] Free map access (was: Compression algorithm problem with DRGs)

[Curt, WE7U]

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004, Jeff Barlow wrote:

> I don't know much about these beyond the general concept. From what
> little I do know, this does sound like a reasonable way to spread the
> load, and avoid dependance on any one server.
>
> I wonder, though, if there aren't issues with firewalls and it being
> generally harder to set up. Things that are too tricky to get working
> will tend to discourage volunteers.

I know that some colleges/universities have shut down the use of
these things because they are used more for illegal sharing of
files/music than legal sharing.  That would knock out a few people,
although I'm sure the college students always can figure out other
way, like private accounts or friends with private accounts.


> Am I the only one here who's rather clueless about these things? Perhaps
> you could educate us.

I know about them, but haven't used them.

I think we might do ok just with a Wiki and a lot of download sites.
Find a new site, add it.  Find a site that has been down too long,
delete it.  If maps are freely available on a server, just point to
it.  If there are some restrictions as to download speed/quantity,
then we download the maps, put them on other sites, and point to the
new sites.  We have to make sure that we're not sharing map data
that's not free though.  That's the only downside I can think of.
Perhaps someone could mirror the wiki pages involved also, so that
we'd have two or three redirection sites available at all times.

--
Curt, WE7U			    archer at eskimo dot com
Arlington, WA, USA		http://www.eskimo.com/~archer
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