AllPeers was a

free software Free software, libre software, libreware sometimes known as freedom-respecting software is computer software distributed open-source license, under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, distribut ...

browser extension A browser extension is a software module for customizing a web browser. Browsers typically allow users to install a variety of extensions, including user interface modifications, cookie management, ad blocking, and the custom scripting and st ...

for

Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements curren ...

. On March 2, 2008, AllPeers announced the end of the service. The extension allowed building a

social network A social network is a social structure consisting of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), networks of Dyad (sociology), dyadic ties, and other Social relation, social interactions between actors. The social network per ...

and sharing files on a P2P basis. It used a darknet style of peer-to-peer communication; files and information shared between users are only accessible as long as the users have each other on their respective access lists - their 'trusted private network'. AllPeers

beta version The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...

was launched on August 24, 2006. It worked on

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

and Mac, which, once downloaded, becomes a toolbar in Mozilla Firefox. AllPeers used

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

BitTorrent BitTorrent is a Protocol (computing), communication protocol for peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P), which enables users to distribute data and electronic files over the Internet in a Decentralised system, decentralized manner. The protocol is d ...

technology to facilitate file transfer. The extension did not require any ports be opened. AllPeers encrypted its communication using standard protocols like SSL so as to protect the user against 3rd party intervention listening in. At its beta launch AllPeers comprised 200,000 lines of C++ and

JavaScript JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language and core technology of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. Ninety-nine percent of websites use JavaScript on the client side for webpage behavior. Web browsers have ...

code. Although the AllPeers client was open sourced in March 2007, the server source remains closed. AllPeers claimed this was because the network must have a single, stable server instance to function reliably.

References

Free Firefox legacy extensions File sharing software BitTorrent {{web-software-stub

See also

References