FeedTree

This is a static copy of the FeedTree homepage. Some of this information may be out of date.

feedtree: collaborative micronews delivery.

FeedTree brings news feed updates to users, instead of the other way around. FeedTree users work together to share news as soon as it is available. Feed updates arrive immediately, instead of on a polling schedule, making RSS as instantaneous as e-mail.

FeedTree helps publishers control bandwidth. Peers in the FeedTree network cooperate to share the burden of delivering news, allowing publishers to offer larger news feeds with more frequent updates. Publishers who choose to push content directly to the FeedTree network ensure immediate and authentic delivery to their readers.

How does this work? The short answer is that new RSS items are distributed using peer-to-peer multicast. For the long answer, including detailed notes on security, incremental deployment, and research topics, consult the introduction to FeedTree (or print out the poster).

get started.

Readers: install the FeedTree Proxy to connect your existing news reading software to the FeedTree network. (screenshots)

Publishers: install the FeedTree Publisher to start pushing immediate, digitally signed updates to your news feeds.

get info.

For information about the Proxy and Publisher, and the FeedTree system in general, please consult the FeedTree project pages. To report bugs or suggest features, file a ticket in the tracking system.

get technical.

FeedTree is built atop the self-organizing Pastry overlay network. It uses the Scribe group communication system to efficiently multicast updates to RSS and Atom feeds. For more technical information and published work on FeedTree, see the FeedTree wiki.

FeedTree is an active research project under development by Daniel Sandler, a computer science graduate student at Rice University in Houston, TX.