This allows a user to find a popular file easily without loading the network, while theoretically maintaining the ability for a user to find a single file located anywhere on the network. When a search is initiated, the node obtains a list of hubs if needed, and contacts the hubs in the list, noting which have been searched, until the list is exhausted, or a predefined search limit has been reached. Leaves maintain one or two connections to hubs, while hubs accept hundreds of leaves, and many connections to other hubs. Gnutella2 divides nodes into two groups, leaves and hubs. Many Gnutella2 proponents claim that this is because of political reasons, while Gnutella supporters claim technical reasons for avoiding the new protocol. Gnutella2 (G2) is not supported by many of the 'old' Gnutella network clients, however many Gnutella2 clients still also connect to Gnutella. The draft specifications were released on March 26, 2003, and more detailed specifications soon followed. With the developers entrenched in their positions, a flame war soon erupted, centering around lead BearShare developer Vincent Falco, which further cemented both sides' resolves. Many of that group still refuse to refer to the network as 'Gnutella2' and instead refer to it as 'Mike's Protocol'.Ĭuriously, the Gnutella2 protocol still uses the old 'GNUTELLA CONNECT/0.6' handshake string for its connections as defined in the Gnutella 0.6 specifications which was criticized by the GDF as an attempt to use the Gnutella network for bootstrapping the new, unrelated network, while proponents of the network claimed that its intent was to remain backwards-compatible with Gnutella to allow current Gnutella clients to add Gnutella2 at their leisure. Other developers, primarily those of LimeWire and BearShare, thought it a 'cheap publicity stunt' and discarded any technical merits. Some thought the goals behind Gnutella2, primarily to make a clean break with the Gnutella 0.6 protocol and start over so that much of the kludge would be done elegantly, to be impressive and desirable. In November 2002, Michael Stokes announced the Gnutella2 protocol to the Gnutella Developers Forum, which immediately caused a schism among the developers.

Gnutella 2 clients