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I don't think you understand how WebTorrent works. WebTorrent in fact works with the regular BitTorrent network if you run it from node, and falls back to use W

by sktrdie 10y ago

I don't think you understand how WebTorrent works. WebTorrent in fact works with the regular BitTorrent network if you run it from node, and falls back to use WebRTC when used in the browser. So you can seed those torrents directly in the browser with something like instant.io.

rakoo 10y ago
I do know how WebTorrent works. The problem is that it creates a completely parallel network of nodes, which on the surface happen to exchange the same framing of messages, so: - When WebTorrent runs on the standard bittorrent network from node, that doesn't change anything: it's still not available from the browser. - When WebTorrent runs on the WebRTC network through instant.ion or anything else, it will only work if somebody else is also seeding the same torrent in their browser. Which they can only have in the browser if they first got it somewhere else. Oh and I'm willing to bet that none of the nodes who currently have the content (ie on the bittorrent network) also share it on the WebTorrent network. I don't expect classic bittorrent peers to ever implement the mess that is WebRTC just to accommodate browsers, unfortunately.
- forgotpwtomain 10y ago
  Webtorrent on Node talks to both types of peers.
  - nathcd 10y ago
    That's not quite correct. From https://github.com/feross/webtorrent-hybrid https://github.com/feross/webtorrent-hybrid: > In node.js, the webtorrent package only connects to normal TCP/UDP peers, not WebRTC peers. That's why there's this webtorrent-hybrid client which runs a hidden electron process to communicate with WebRTC peers and normal TCP/UDP peers. According to the readme, there's (understandably; it's running chromium in the background) a lot of overhead with this method so they're working toward a non-electron version of WebRTC in Node.
- mtgx 10y ago
  I think the problem lies with the browser vendors, who aren't implementing the bittorrent protocol in the browser. If WebTorrent were to do that itself, it would have to become a "plugin" rather than just an extension. So start asking Mozilla/Google to implement the bittorrent protocol in the browser (or even better, implement IPFS directly, as that's a more wholesome technology specifically made for the browser).
  - the8472 10y ago
    > I think the problem lies with the browser vendors, who aren't implementing the bittorrent protocol in the browser. browser vendors shouldn't have to implement it. they should expose posix-like APIs (bsd sockets, file IO) or process management+ipc via plain pipes (talk to native bittorrent client) so it could be provided through an extension. The problem with browsers is that they create a backwards-incompatible API stack. This is understandable for web content. Not so for extensions.

by sktrdie 10y ago

rakoo 10y ago

I do know how WebTorrent works. The problem is that it creates a completely parallel network of nodes, which on the surface happen to exchange the same framing of messages, so: - When WebTorrent runs on the standard bittorrent network from node, that doesn't change anything: it's still not available from the browser. - When WebTorrent runs on the WebRTC network through instant.ion or anything else, it will only work if somebody else is also seeding the same torrent in their browser. Which they can only have in the browser if they first got it somewhere else. Oh and I'm willing to bet that none of the nodes who currently have the content (ie on the bittorrent network) also share it on the WebTorrent network. I don't expect classic bittorrent peers to ever implement the mess that is WebRTC just to accommodate browsers, unfortunately.

forgotpwtomain 10y ago
Webtorrent on Node talks to both types of peers.
- nathcd 10y ago
  That's not quite correct. From https://github.com/feross/webtorrent-hybrid https://github.com/feross/webtorrent-hybrid: > In node.js, the webtorrent package only connects to normal TCP/UDP peers, not WebRTC peers. That's why there's this webtorrent-hybrid client which runs a hidden electron process to communicate with WebRTC peers and normal TCP/UDP peers. According to the readme, there's (understandably; it's running chromium in the background) a lot of overhead with this method so they're working toward a non-electron version of WebRTC in Node.
mtgx 10y ago
I think the problem lies with the browser vendors, who aren't implementing the bittorrent protocol in the browser. If WebTorrent were to do that itself, it would have to become a "plugin" rather than just an extension. So start asking Mozilla/Google to implement the bittorrent protocol in the browser (or even better, implement IPFS directly, as that's a more wholesome technology specifically made for the browser).
- the8472 10y ago
  > I think the problem lies with the browser vendors, who aren't implementing the bittorrent protocol in the browser. browser vendors shouldn't have to implement it. they should expose posix-like APIs (bsd sockets, file IO) or process management+ipc via plain pipes (talk to native bittorrent client) so it could be provided through an extension. The problem with browsers is that they create a backwards-incompatible API stack. This is understandable for web content. Not so for extensions.