Valve Software Hires Bit Torrent Creator, Bram Cohen
Posted by Flux Capacitor on 13 February 2004 - 16:01 · 22 comments & 1574 views
About the Author
Full name: Unknown
Forum name: Flux Capacitor
Contact: via forum PM
Submissions: Normal · Headline
Full name: Unknown
Forum name: Flux Capacitor
Contact: via forum PM
Submissions: Normal · Headline
Slashdot It!
Submit to reddit
Submit to blinklist
Bookmark on del.icio.us
Add to furl
Share on Facebook
Add to Windows Live
Add to Google- Advertisement
-
-
#1 Posted by Keldyn on 13 Feb 2004 - 16:28
- Yay! Now we can all get leaked HL-2 source code that much easier!
-
#2 Posted by jmole on 13 Feb 2004 - 16:32
- If you think about it, the most reliable thing about Steam is downloading the caches and updates at a very fast download rate so it looks like Bram Cohen has been doing his job well.
-
(1 reply)
#3 Posted by Keito on 13 Feb 2004 - 17:29
- Bram Cohen is dutch
we dutchies rule 
-
#4 Posted by FISKER_Q on 13 Feb 2004 - 17:30
- Well he hasn't really implented the technology yet i think.
I think it's to make a P2P system for steam, i originally submitted the idea in the betastages, and they seemed to acknowledge the need for a more reliable network.
I think it's cool how a little plea, which later grew was listened to like that
Now all we need is the SUS like server for Steam.
-
(2 replies)
#5 Posted by dougkinzinger on 13 Feb 2004 - 17:43
- Torrents are a fad....who wants to bet?
I might be wrong, but they'll never be accepted by mainstream users like Kazaa, etc., have been. -
#5.1 Posted by codykm on 13 Feb 2004 - 18:00
- just becuase they arent mainstream, doesnt mean its just a fad. Since it doesnt have the ease of use as p2p clients like kazaa or napster did, The majority will not use it, because the majority are people that dont even know how a computer work. It will continue to be used (and im guessing for a long time to come) by the few that already do, but simply without a centralized server built into the client itself, it will be tough for people to accept a change.
-
#5.2 Posted by ~Bull}{Dog~ on 13 Feb 2004 - 20:32
- They dont need to be mainstream. If its a part of updating half life 2 then its already going to be huge...
-
#6 Posted by Goten on 13 Feb 2004 - 18:57
- I think that Bit Torrent is the best file sharing ultility, and to use that tech in the new half life/steam client might be a good thing.
(Goten)
-
(4 replies)
#7 Posted by BTallack on 13 Feb 2004 - 19:08
- The technology is BitTorrent would be useful for Steam except for one important thing. It doesn't work very well behind firewalls or routers. That means every single person who's on a College network, or has a home router without specific ports forwarded is going to have a problem.
-
#7.1 Posted by Drimo on 13 Feb 2004 - 19:21
- Yep, I'm in both classifications there. Steam was kinda tough to configure for use with my firewall / router and school network (which blocks bittorrent anyway).
-
#7.2 Posted by bangbang023 on 14 Feb 2004 - 01:05
- steam works fine behind my routers NAT. I didn't have to forward any specific ports or anything.
-
#7.3 Posted by FISKER_Q on 14 Feb 2004 - 08:52
- No. Cause the Bittorrent system will be optional. Also bittorrent is easy to setup for routers, firewall and etc.
The firewalls and proxies handled by a system administrator is where the problem lies. Cause then it's his firewall rules that apply.
But that could probably also easily be dealt with. Bittorrent runs on some 6xxx ports as far as i remember. Wouldn't be hard to enable some kind of "Firewall mode" where it changes all data to go through port 80.
Anyways the P2P system will be optional. But Valve's plan is to have a big content server which has content for everything Valve game related.
So although you would still be able to get from the normal mirrors. You might get your update slower if you didn't use the p2p way.
In my opinion, the biggest problem would be that the creator of the official client(Bram Cohen) made download cap at the highest upload. -
#7.4 Posted by threetonesun on 14 Feb 2004 - 14:52
- My guess is the Bittorrent component would run on the same port as the Steam one does now, which has never been a problem for me, even on a college network.
-
(2 replies)
#8 Posted by HellBender on 13 Feb 2004 - 20:51
- What's this? Uploading to other users without my consent? LAWSUIT!
-
#8.1 Posted by draugluin on 13 Feb 2004 - 21:56
- you consented when you installed the program, that's what fine print, and never ending agreements that you accept to automatically without reading are for.
-
#9 Posted by MxxCon on 13 Feb 2004 - 23:27
- how about giving me some bloody credit for posting this on BPN?
-
(1 reply)
#10 Posted by Ciderx on 13 Feb 2004 - 23:53
- Bram Cohen? Didn't he write Dracula?
-
#11 Posted by thenay on 14 Feb 2004 - 01:23
- Thanks for the post MxxCon.
Good for Bram Cohen, glad he was found by a gr8 company
Love BT
-
#12 Posted by j005u on 14 Feb 2004 - 17:15
- mkay.
make it like bittornet?
so i can lagg even more while playin cs?
nah thanks..
Out of the blue, he heard from Gabe Newell, the managing director of Valve Software, based in nearby Bellevue, Wash. Valve is developing what gaming experts anticipate will be a blockbuster video game, Half-Life 2, but it is also creating an online distribution network that it calls Steam. Because of Mr. Cohen's expertise in just that area, Valve offered him a job. He moved to Seattle and started work in October. "When we looked around to see who was doing the most interesting work in this space, Bram's progress on BitTorrent really stood out," Mr. Newell said. "The distributed publishing model embedded in BitTorrent is exactly the kind of thing media companies need to build on for their own systems."
PeopleSoft argues that an Oracle-PeopleSoft combination would leave too few competitors in the market for broad suites of software designed to automate accounting, human resources and manufacturing for the world's largest corporations. It claims prices would rise as a result. Oracle counters that the business applications market has too many rivals, including the formidable competitor Microsoft, which entered the market a couple of years ago.
Justice Department officials were not immediately available for comment.