And no, that isn't some new Grindr terminology you haven't heard about. I'm talking about peer-to-peer networking.

At a basic level, P2P just means people share files directly with each other instead of everything being hosted on one central server. It's the difference between a restaurant and a potluck: one kitchen serving everyone (like Netflix or YouTube) versus everyone bringing a dish and sharing it around. If one person leaves the potluck, the whole thing doesn't collapse.

That setup makes P2P good for stuff that doesn't fit neatly into modern, platform-controlled systems, like things that aren't monetized, algorithm-boosted, or neatly licensed. It's why it's often used for preserving niche or disappearing material, trading things that labels and platforms don't bother hosting anymore, and keeping access alive even when a site shuts down, a company pulls the plug, or a server quietly goes offline.

A well-known example is Soulseek, which has been around for years as a music-focused P2P network built on users sharing directly with each other (although yesterday I was finding some nice recipes and ringtones from it )

So, ATRL, what's your take on peer-to-peer networking? Do you ever use it, and what kinds of things do you usually share or look for? #AskATRL

I only P2P with myself, getting files from one device to another. I frequently airdrop a file form my work laptop to my personal to my phone, etc. None of my friends share files like that. They are also outside of ecosystem, which makes it hard sharing digital files with them. We also all tend to predominantly communicate via Discord.

Edited January 29Jan 29 by Cole

If LPSG is considered P2P-friendly, I know all about it

Yes but only for myself. I have an extensive movie archive (2,000 movies) for myself

might be a in a few telegram groups if that counts

Oh its not pay 2 play?

Procure to Pay? SAP is that *****

So BitTorrent? No, I don't do that anymore

B2B, bi to bi

Isnt this like 2002 old methodology? P2P software was trash

wut

1 hour ago, Cesar said:

might be a in a few telegram groups if that counts

Doesn't Telegram have a massive issue with child stuff, illegal drugs, terrorism, and the Russian government? Everything about that app is super shady and idk why you use it.

3 minutes ago, Tropez said:

Doesn't Telegram have a massive issue with child stuff, illegal drugs, terrorism, and the Russian government? Everything about that app is super shady and idk why you use it.

child stuff - idk i personally haven't seen that, thankfully.

illegal drugs - any app can be used for that, signal, whatsapp, etc

terrorism - idk never seen that either

russian government - ever app has ties to every government at this point

this sounds interesting

I suppose. I haven't used Limewire in…years. The absolute most recent I would have used it would be 2012 but it was likely further back. The last time I used a file sharing site was during the pandemic to get some anime downloaded.

I read this as PNP omg

Yeah I grew up with Limewire and SoulSeek (still uses SoulSeek for some really obscure stuff)

Edited January 30Jan 30 by botnus

7 minutes ago, YourFavoriteWeapon said:

I read this as PNP omg

Because you're a [redacted].

Hashtag @discosean.

...Vin

54 minutes ago, Vin said:

Because you're a [redacted].

Hashtag @discosean.

...Vin

Yes I am PNP friendly. But I require the use of protection. I don't do the unprotected stuff.