[Gzz-commits] manuscripts/pointers article.rst

[Benja Fallenstein]

CVSROOT:        /cvsroot/gzz
Module name:    manuscripts
Branch:         
Changes by:     Benja Fallenstein <address@hidden>      03/11/01 16:07:11

Modified files:
        pointers       : article.rst 

Log message:
        intro; comment on wayback machine: nice, but a single point of failure 
for **the whole Web**

CVSWeb URLs:
http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/gzz/manuscripts/pointers/article.rst.diff?tr1=1.56&tr2=1.57&r1=text&r2=text

Patches:
Index: manuscripts/pointers/article.rst
diff -u manuscripts/pointers/article.rst:1.56 
manuscripts/pointers/article.rst:1.57
--- manuscripts/pointers/article.rst:1.56       Sat Nov  1 15:52:10 2003
+++ manuscripts/pointers/article.rst    Sat Nov  1 16:07:10 2003
@@ -46,12 +46,13 @@
 However, most current P2P systems have no facility 
 for updating documents, and those that do 
 require keeping the current version as state in the network.
-Thus, unlike in file-sharing, to keep a version of a Web page available, 
-it would not suffice to keep a copy on your computer.
+This loses a major benefit of file-sharing:
+To keep a version of a Web page available, 
+it should suffice to keep a copy of it on your computer.
 
-We present an versioning mechanism usable
+In this paper, we present a simple versioning mechanism usable
 for a P2P Web as well as for file-sharing
-and P2P-based software distribution.
+and P2P-based software distribution and upgrading.
 
 Extending OceanStore's "heartbeats," we propose *pointer records*, 
 signed files containing a document's id, 
@@ -84,8 +85,11 @@
 and increase availability. However, if the Web worked like
 a file-sharing system, Web pages could never be updated.
 
+XXX
+
 .. Standing on the shoulders of giants: Example of Web links rotting away
 
+Keeping Web pages available is an important concern.
 In 1997, NASA launched the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft
 on a mission to Saturn. Before the launch, the mission
 was widely criticized for its use of radioisotope
@@ -103,7 +107,9 @@
 on the shoulders of giants;" but how can we do that today,
 if the shoulders keep rotting away?
 
-XXX Wayback machine?
+(The Internet Archive's Waybac Machine [waybackmachine]_
+alleviates this concern, but it introduces
+a single point of failure for the *entire* Web!)
 
 .. Links shouldn't break when documents move or
    publishers lose interest