Gnutella: A Protocol Outlives the World That Created It
Summary
This post provides a historical and technical overview of the Gnutella protocol, outlining how a decentralized P2P network functioned, how bootstrapping via GWebCache operated, and how core messages (PING/PONG, QUERY/QUERYHIT, PUSH) enabled scalable file sharing. It highlights why Gnutella endured for a decade and how its design influenced later distributed systems.