On Mar 15, 2004, at 10:20 PM, Trevor Andrade wrote:

>
> Hello all,
>
> I was just wondering why Rubygems uses a peer to peer configuration.  I
> mean what are the advantages?  Why not just have all the gems on a main
> central server and have some mirrors.  What advantage does a
> peer-to-peer architecture provide that a central server architecture
> doesn't.  Note:  I am assuming in general the RubyGems will be small in
> size so the amount being downloaded from the server will not be that
> much.
>

RubyGems allows for installation of gems from a remote service.  There 
is
a central repository right now at http://gems.rubyforge.org The design
allows any machine to serve as a gem server as well.  This is nice, for
example, if you had a gem installed on your computer and wanted to allow
a buddy to install it on their's.  Although the main mechanism will 
likely
be install from the central source, its nice to be able to support a
P2P mode as well.

-rich