A serious, non-infringing use of P2P technology

Lindows is reported to be planning to distribute its operating system software using BitTorrent.

“The file-sharing setup means lower networking costs for Lindows and faster downloads for users, the company said. By cutting back on bandwidth rates and on hosting infrastructure such as servers and firewalls, Lindows said it can serve 1,000 or more simultaneous customers rather than the 125 its earlier system could handle.

The company is using a P2P system based on BitTorrent technology, which it expects eventually to become the primary download mechanism for large files. The BitTorrent system breaks a typical 500MB LindowsOS file into about 1,000 pieces to be transported independently for reassembly at the customer’s computer and is significantly faster than traditional FTP-based downloads, Lindows said.”