Direct Connect: Just These Guys, Ya Know?

Money and DC++

While going through the forum, looking for interesting things to blog about, I noticed a thread by Ali;

If you had to pay for DC++, how much would you be willing to pay? A slightly
different angle: How much do you think it is *worth*?

The thread was started 2003-06-23, and I probably wouldn’t have paid for it back then. But now… If I were forced, I probably would.

A question that arose from the thread was; Who should get the money? A lot of people have been a part of the DC++ project; patching, supporting and general assistance. Is it “fair” that Sieka recieves money for things that a lot of other people have helped put together? Is it “fair” because he did the initial framework and everyone else “just got on the wagon”? I’m not sure if I would feel comfortable if I were to recieve money all of a sudden. Don’t get me wrong, I like money, but getting money for something that I enjoy doing… Wouldn’t that make me a whore? I know Pederzani has said he wouldn’t accept money “to do features” and I don’t think I would either.

What do you think? Is DC++ worth any money by today’s standards? If so – Who do you think should get them?

File lists getting keyboarded!

Version 0.688 of DC++ included a nifty feature; back/forward mouse/keyboard navigation to directory listing frame.

I assume everyone got it with the mouse (it’s quite obvious which buttons are for what if you have a mouse with more than two buttons). But did a lot of people actually get it with the keyboard? I sure didn’t. I’m suprised as to not having seen this question on the forum… But oh, well…

The first thing I tried was backspace. Well, that does something but it sure ain’t back or forward. The backspace will make you go up one directory. Until you hit the root directory of course. Then, it’ll do nothing.

After having tried every possibly other way with backspace, I decided to look in the code. Well, before I go on, I feel I need to say the other two keyboard commands that aren’t linked to back/forward navigation. Tab, will make DC++ go from one of the views to the other. And return will download the selected directory(-ies) or file(s).

Now, how to back and forward navigate? Hold down Alt and press the ‘Left’ key to go back. Hold down Alt and press the ‘Right’ key to go forward.

Widespread usage of DC++

I have previously talked about version.xml, the file that allow people to get notified on ‘stable’ DC++ releases. (There’s of course a way to recieve notifications about every DC++ release.)

Just an early disclaimer: No information of individuals are stored.

When DC++ checks whether the current version you’re using is the latest or not, the version number is sent to dcplusplus.sf.net. And as I said: No individual information is being sent. When GargoyleMT took over hosting of version.xml (for a few days, he recieved a complaint concerning the huge amount of traffic it generated; Making him remove it), he was also able to see how many were using a specific version.

Here follows the top-10 list of most used versions. Unfortunately, the list counts each connection to version.xml as ‘one new user’ (so to speak), so the list isn’t exact.

DC++ 0.674 – 617418
DC++ 0.401 – 113297
DC++ 0.668 – 89242
DC++ 0.670 – 58008
DC++ 0.4034 – 28030
DC++ 0.673 – 27486
DC++ 0.306 – 24318
DC++ 0.305 – 9966
DC++ 0.4033 – 4073
DC++ 0.4032 – 3572

Mind you, the list is from November, 2005, which was before the release of 0.68. I’m unsure if the list would be very different, if you would create one now.

And oh, I forgot to mention that these numbers (if I recall the conversation correctly) was during a 24-hours period. You can understand why the host didn’t want the file to be hosted there.

The question that I’m sure you are thinking; Why is the so old versions so popular?
The answer is very different depending on who you ask. But it would probably be one of the following;

• “The people on the development team told me to!” This is a fairly valid reason. Since the release of 0.4033, unicode support is required to fully experience all of the advantages that is DC++. Unfortunately, the unicode support is quite poor for Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows ME (Microsoft’s fault that is). This is probably the reason so many (well, not in compared to eg 0.674) are using DC++ 0.4032.
• People don’t know how to update their version. In this category, are the non-technical people. These people don’t know how to get the new version or if they were given it, how to install it.
• People don’t want to update. This category can be divided in a few sub-categories;
  • They don’t want to update because they feel the current version they’re using is adequate for their needs.
  • They don’t want to update because they feel that the newer versions changed the behaviour of one (or many) of their favorite features.
  • They can’t be arsed. (I sometimes fall into this category.)
• I’m unsure if this point is correct or not, but I’d like to tell it anyway. When people modificate their own copy of DC++, and distribute it, but doesn’t change the version. (I believe fulDC exibit this behaviour.)

TTH of versions

Here is a list of all the TTHs for released versions of DC++;