[mythtv-users] possible p2p approach for mythtv information?

[Brad Templeton]

On Sat, Jul 08, 2006 at 12:16:16PM +1000, Aaron Harwood wrote:
> I wouldn't think it impossible for a P2P design to combine raw  
> information as it
> flows from peer to peer, so as to reduce redundant information (e.g.  
> peers might
> arrange themselves effectively into a mesh and thus only communicate  
> a small
> number of neighbors), or to make use
> of an innovative DHT approach. Of course, it would
> be more difficult to implement this compared to the centralized  
> approach and the
> only real benefit I guess is that nobody particularly has to run a  
> central server
> for everyone else.


The problem is trust.  In this case, there are reasons for people to
try to screw up the system.   TV networks don't want you skipping
ads, they would be well motivated to insert peers that pass you
"distilled" information from thousands of other users that's bogus.
Or positive reviews of their tv shows telling you to watch them.

So then you need a system to be able to identify peers, give them
repuatations, ignore their info if you learn it's bogus, and this all
has to work if they inserted info indirectly via other peers.

And once you discover they are bogus, do you share it?  How do you stop
them from creating a fresh identity with no bad rep and inserting bad
info again?

Again this cries for centralization.   

Sharing bits of video doesn't (and has copyright issues as well.)

> Did we meet at CodeCon earlier this year?
Quite possibly.
> 
> Yeah. Cut lists would not be very big and they would likely compress  
> a lot since
> commercials are reasonably regularly spaced and so forth.

By not big, we're talking a few score bytes.   Tiny fractions of
packets.  There are no bandwidth wins here with P2P.

> 
> >Except that running the central server for a particular show would be
> >little higher than the load of being a peer in a true P2P network.
> 
> But still, someone has to run it. What happens when they stop running  
> it?

There's no reason to have only one.  But there's no reason to have a million
either.


Anyway, if you want to try a P2P system, check with Isaac.   He may not be
willing to do it.   He said a central recommendation system would be run by
him only, and he gets to decide what goes in myth core.