free sw & tech

La notizia è di qualche giorno fà, ma la voglio riportare comunque, per dare eco a un progetto che sta facendo passi avanti e merita ancora più attenzione:

29th Jan, 2008 – Freenet 0.7.0a2 alphatest released

Freenet version 0.7a2 is now available for public testing.

Freenet is a global peer-to-peer network designed to allow users to publish and consume information without fear of censorship. To use it, you must download the Freenet software, available for Windows, Mac, Linux and other operating systems. Your computer will then form part of a global, decentralized P2P network, and you will be able to publish and consume information anonymously, either through your web browser, or through a variety of third party applications, such as Frost (see http://jtcfrost.sf.net/).

Since the first alpha there have been vast numbers of changes, in particular significant improvements in user friendliness. For example, it is no-longer necessary to find other people to connect to, Freenet can find other people for you. However, you can still connect to your friends for maximum security. It is also a good deal faster, and many bugs have been fixed.

There have been many many other changes, and we will release a feature complete beta followed by 0.7.0 itself in the coming months (we hope to have regular point releases after that). But we thought it would be best to get some wider testing at this point. There is more to do before 0.7.0, and one or two features which need to be completed before that.

Freenet 0.7a2 can be downloaded from here.

This release would not have been possible without the release of numerous volunteers, and Matthew Toseland, Freenet’s full time developer. Matthew’s work is funded through donations via our website (as well as a few larger sponsors from time to time), we ask that anyone who can help us to ensure Matthew’s continued employment by visiting our donations page and making a contribution at the donation page.