Re: [Mldonkey-users] upload queues, priorities, and .mli files

[mldonkey]

Hi Jason,

On Wednesday, July 6, 2005, 5:22:44 PM you wrote:

> I noticed the following in docs/developers/mldonkey-design.tex:

>>  The long upload queue sorts the clients requesting to enter the upload
>> queue in a fifo order. This means that the oldest clients are always in the
>> top of the queue (ie they have a lot of upload slots in other clients, even
>> if they cannot use them at full speed), whereas new clients (for example
>> newbies) have to wait for days to see their downloads start. Clearly,
>> to get as many users as possible, it is important for newbies that they
>> immediatly download something from the network, even if it is not a lot.
>> Long upload-queues are good for long term users, those who are the most used
>> to waiting long for files...

> Is this still the current feeling on upload queues?  It is in tension
> with the third argument against credit systems in the same document.
> Someone waiting for a rare and interesting file may end up competing
> against an ever-changing group of people waiting for more popular and
> easily downloaded files.

There is an interesting article about this in the wiki:

http://mldonkey.berlios.de/modules.php?name=Wiki&pagename=Queues

I was quite convinced by his arguments. You can see a queue as a
subset of a pool, where the waiting time is prioritized. You could
simulate the same behavior with a pool, by picking peers that have
waited longer with a higher probability than newcomers.
But you could also choose not to prioritize waiting time but rather
things like rareness of files.

All in all:

- With "no queue", those clients are prioritized that hammer the
  source with file requests without getting banned (that is, they have
  to try and get as close as possible to the banning threshold).
- With "queue", those clients are prioritized that have the longest
  uptime.
- With "pool", the programmer can choose what he/she wants to
  prioritize.

I'd like to emphasize that neither of the three variants have an
impact on the sharing of rare files. The priority system is something
rather independent, which can be implemented in either "queue" or
"pool".

-- 
Bye,
 Phoenix