computer science

Tribler

Tribler is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Tribler rather than just read about it. In short: Tribler is an open source decentralized BitTorrent client which allows anonymous peer-to-peer by default. Tribler is based on the BitTorrent protocol and uses an overlay network for content searching.

Key takeaways

Tribler belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Tribler to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Tribler from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Tribler is an open source decentralized BitTorrent client which allows anonymous peer-to-peer by default. Tribler is based on the BitTorrent protocol and uses an overlay network for content searching. Due to this overlay network, Tribler does not require an external website or indexing service to discover content. The user interface of Tribler is very basic and focused on ease of use instead of diversity of features. Tribler is available for Linux, Windows, and OS X. Tribler has run trials for a video streamer known as SwarmPlayer.

History The name Tribler stems from the word tribe, referring to the usage of social networks in this P2P client. The first version of Tribler was an enhancement of ABC aka Yet Another BitTorrent Client. In 2009, the development team behind Tribler stated that their efforts for the coming years were focused on the integration of Tribler with television hardware. In 2014, with the release of version 6.3.1, a custom built-in onion routing network was introduced as part of Tribler. Users can load any clearnet torrent, and by leaving the box for anonymity ticked, the files will be routed through other Tribler. Because the custom onion network does not use Tor exit nodes, it is enhanced to make every Tribler user to function as a relay.

Features Tribler adds keyword search ability to the BitTorrent file download protocol using a gossip protocol, somewhat similar to the eXeem network which was shut down in 2005. The software includes the ability to recommend content. After a dozen downloads the Tribler software can roughly estimate the download taste of the user and recommends content. This feature is based on collaborative filtering, also featured on websites such as Last.fm and Amazon.com. Another feature of Tribler is a limited form of social networking and donation of upload capacity. Tribler borrows bandwidth capacity from connected nodes regarded as helpful to boost the download speed of files.

SwarmPlayer The SwarmPlayer is a Python-based BitTorrent Internet TV viewer. It allows one to watch BitTorrent-hosted peer-to-peer digital media distribution of video on demand and plays live Tribler streaming media. It is based on the same core as the Tribler TV application. The core software is free and open source software based on the Tribler platform, licensed under the LGPL 2.1.

Development Tribler was created by university researchers at the Delft University of Technology, who are trying to improve peer-to-peer technology. Tribler is designed to enhance BitTorrent by removing the need for central elements such as the websites for finding content, as well as being anonymous. The European Union's P2P-Next project to develop an Internet television distribution standard builds on Tribler technology.

Reception After a news article on TorrentFreak in February 2012 mentioned Tribler's decentralization and the fact that its index is impossible to take down, the website became hugely popular, causing it to be reduced to just the download page to satisfy demand. A warning about Tribler security appeared on the tor-dev mailing list on Dec. 20, 2014 and was addressed shortly thereafter via GitHub.. Daniel Aleksandersen has pointed out in 2021 some privacy concerns due to the project's goals and priorities. He considers these issues are still not addressed in 2023.

See also Comparison of BitTorrent clients GNUnet an active project for peer-to-peer filesharing. In opposition of Tribler, GNUnet uses a mesh network topology (over TCP, UDP, HTTP, HTTPS, WLAN or Bluetooth) and provides chat and VPN features. Hyphanet an active project sharing same goal of privacy-friendly peer-to-peer filesharing. Hyphanet has also been designed for censorship-resistant communications.

References

Further reading "Truly Decentralized BitTorrent Downloading Has Finally Arrived". TorrentFreak. P2P-Next: technical and legal challenges Tribler: P2P media search and sharing https://www.delta.tudelft.nl/article/tu-delft-pioneers-internet-tv http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Tribler-a-better-society-with-P2P-1588063.html https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-ppsp-survey/07/ IEEE https://web.stanford.edu/class/ee380/Abstracts/120530.html Tribler: a (worrying) P2P client' http://digitale-grundversorgung.de/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Tribler_P2P-Next.pdf

External links Official website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tribler

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tribler claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Tribler before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Tribler ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Tribler

In research: Tribler appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Tribler in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Tribler is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Anonymity networks, BitTorrent clients for Linux, File sharing software that uses wxWidgets, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tribler outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Tribler in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tribler means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Tribler out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tribler in simple terms?

Why does Tribler matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Tribler?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Tribler.