A brief overview of Metalink: "Metalink solves the first problem -- how to find the most speedy way to download a file -- by grouping different download protocols into one protocol. This enables Metalink clients to automatically switch between different mirror servers without explicit user instructions. Not only multiple server information is described but also meta-data (e.g., the location of the server, document tags and license)." Geospatial Semantic Web
Some basic features the information in a metalink can be used for:
- Listing multiple mirrors for higher availability.
- Automatic error recovery and repair of corrupted downloads.
- Describe mirror location and priority for automated and efficient use.
- More information about a download for users.
- Add a file or multiple files to a download queue.
Perhaps Metalink Library for PHP and Python (metalink-library) could be useful.
There was some discussion [1] last year about Metalink (which lists
mirrors & checksums for download programs). Since then, support has
been added to KGet in KDE and DownThemAll!, a Firefox extension. What
we are missing is things to make it easier for projects to make the
simple XML .metalinks.
I know this is late, but if anyone is interested, we'd be willing to
co-mentor if needed, and fund development of this (if not accepted for
GSoC).
Here is an example.metalink file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<metalink version="3.0" xmlns="http://metalinker.org">
<files>
<file name="example.ext">
<verification>
<hash type="md5">example-md5-hash</hash>
<hash type="sha1">example-sha1-hash</hash>
<signature type="pgp"/>
</verification>
<resources>
<url type="ftp" location="us" preference="90">ftp://ftp.example.com/example.ext</url>
<url type="ftp" location="uk" preference="90">ftp://ftp.example.net/example.ext</url>
<url type="http" location="us" preference="90">http://example.com/example.ext</url>
<url type="http" location="de" preference="90">http://example.net/example.ext</url>
<url type="bittorrent" preference="100">http://example.org/example.ext.torrent</url>
<url type="rsync"/>
<url type="magnet"/>
<url type="ed2k"/>
</resources>
</file>
</files>
</metalink>[1]
http://lists.drupal.org/archives/development/2007-03/msg00011.html
http://groups.drupal.org/node/3647
Comments
PS - I'm not a student, but
PS - I'm not a student, but I'm involved with the Metalink project and we will co-mentor/help any students as needed, along with whatever else we can contribute.
Could this tie into/play
Could this tie into/play with media mover? http://www.drupal.org/project/media_mover ?
http://www.twitter.com/lxbarth
Yes, I think it could
Yes, I think it could work with media_mover, I will look into how when I have some time tomorrow
Ok,
Ok, I think you need to elaborate on how this would integrate with Drupal, and how this would benefit Drupal specifically. I'm marking it as rejected for now; mark it back upon further explanation.
Possibly, I'm
Possibly, I'm misunderstanding the process here -- wouldn't be the first time :)
As I understand it, this group is for discussing projects, and giving feedback. The actual proposals are entered into Google's infrastructure, and once the entry period closes, and Google has let us know how many projects we can accept, the selection process (ie, identifying the top projects against the number of slots) begins in earnest.
So, in this space, we can constructively debate the relative merits of each proposal, but I would hesitate to reject proposals in the absence of a compelling reason -- such as it clearly duplicates an existing module/etc -- marking as "needs work"
Cheers,
Bill
FunnyMonkey
Tools for Teachers
FunnyMonkey
I personally don't know how
I personally don't know how this would integrate with Drupal, but a few people at least have ideas.
This would benefit Drupal because it could take advantage of the features of Metalink (some of which are described above).
For instance, this info from http://drupal.org/node/227618 could be stored in the Metalink XML format understood by download programs. (I've updated the original post to include an example .metalink file).
Download: drupal-6.1.tar.gz
Size: 1.01 MB
md5_file hash: 32bfd0b3a8a48e3f631e0a396ec96f68
First released: February 27, 2008 - 19:51
Most importantly the MD5 checksum, which will automatically be verified by Metalink download clients.
The above file is small, but it's still useful to know if a file is good. Chunk checksums are more useful for really large files, which allow downloads to be repaired.
Ok...
If this is to refer to drupal.org, this would need to get into both the project* modules and update status. Since update status is in core, it would be impossible to change into Drupal 7; it would also require a core patch, which is stick SoC ground with an unknown code freeze date. Also, it looks to me as though the metalink project is looking for a host project to piggyback off of for SoC, as you have no real ideas on how, exactly, this would integrate with Drupal.
I'm leaving this rejected. As before, if you can provide more details, feel free to set back.