Metalink (XML for downloading, with mirrors, p2p, and checksums)

["Anthony Bryan" <albryan@comcast.net>]

Hello,

Metalink is a system which improves the download process by increasing
availability and guaranteeing integrity. It can give users a more reliable
download by providing multiple links to the same file, which can be switched
to if one server is down or fails during transmission. It can also make
downloads faster by using multiple resources at once. Metalink lists mirrors
with machine readable information on priority and location so their
efficient use can be automated by download programs. It can list mirrors
around the world, but will automatically default to mirrors closer to you
and by priority. The checksum verification process, usually manual and
arcane to most people, is automated with Metalink, so files are guaranteed
to be an exact copy of the file you downloaded, free of errors. Metalinks
can also contain publisher information, Operating System and architecture,
language, file descriptions, mutliple files (to be added to a download
queue), partial file checksums, and so on. All this extra information allows
download programs to do interesting things. It lets you have one download
link for multiple Operating Systems and languages.

OpenOffice, openSUSE, Arch Linux, and other Linux/BSD distributions use
Metalink for ISO downloads.

7 download managers support Metalink, with more on the way.

OpenOffice.org Metalink downloads (2.1):
http://distribution.openoffice.org/p2p/magnet.html
OpenOffice.org Metalink downloads (All):
http://download.packages.ro/metalink/openoffice/
openSUSE: http://en.opensuse.org/Released_Version#Metalink
Metalink on wp: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metalink
More details..."Downloading bliss with Metalink":
http://www.linux.com/article.pl?sid=06/11/01/1641247

Partial example Metalink:

   <file name="OOo_2.0.4_LinuxIntel_install.tar.gz">
    <os>Linux-x86</os>
    <size>126498407</size>
    <verification>
     <hash type="md5">736a546f2a2518e49c94f6c7995dc055</hash>
    </verification>
    <resources>
       <url type="bittorrent"
           preference="100">
 
http://borft.student.utwente.nl/openoffice/torrents/OOo_2.0.4_LinuxIntel_ins
tall.tar.gz.torrent
      </url>     
      <url type="ftp"
           location="au"
           preference="30">
 
ftp://mirror.pacific.net.au/OpenOffice/stable/2.0.4/OOo_2.0.4_LinuxIntel_ins
tall.tar.gz
      </url>
      <url type="http"
           location="au"
           preference="30">
 
http://mirror.pacific.net.au/openoffice/stable/2.0.4/OOo_2.0.4_LinuxIntel_in
stall.tar.gz
      </url>
      <url type="http"
           location="at"
           preference="30">
 
http://gd.tuwien.ac.at/office/openoffice/stable/2.0.4/OOo_2.0.4_LinuxIntel_i
nstall.tar.gz
      </url>
    </resources>

(( Anthony Bryan
 )) Metalink [ http://www.metalinker.org ]