[mythtv-users] Alternatives to DataDirect?

chris@cpr.homelinux.net chris at cpr.homelinux.net
Wed Feb 15 03:00:34 UTC 2006


On Tue, Feb 14, 2006 at 10:03:50AM -0500, Jay R. Ashworth wrote:
> On Mon, Feb 13, 2006 at 04:27:12PM -0700, Mark Lehrer wrote:
> > Perhaps zap2it could set up a way to distribute listings with Bit Torrent,
> > if they have a problem with too many people hitting their service.
> Because the number of people utilizing the service is important
> information to them, they pretty much want to point-to-multipoint the
> data, as a policy issue.

The other factor is that the listings you retrieve are reasonably 
unique (only shared by people who have selected exactly the same 
channels for download and for whom every selected station is on the 
same channel).  The only way bittorrent would make sense would be if 
zap2it sent out the entire lineup for a particular region and we 
filtered on the receiving end.  The sharing of bandwidth might 
compensate for the initial increase in data output if you live in a 
metropolis, but a lot of cable systems probably don't have enough 
MythTV users to sustain a torrent feed.  As a separate issue, a lot 
of ISPs are throttling (if not killing) torrent streams, so getting 
the neccessary "buy in" to change distribution models may be 
difficult.

-- 
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and 
carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis (1935)


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