source: Readme.txt @ 345

Halite: A Free Open-Source BitTorrent client

Version: 0.2.9 Revision 344 Snapshot released 2nd December 2007

NOTE! This is a snapshot build, as such there are incomplete features.
Please see the forum for the most up to date details.

WWW: http://www.binarynotions.com/halite.php Forum:
http://www.binarynotions.com/forum.php

Developer: Eóin O'Callaghan

Halite (named after the mineral) is a BitTorrent client based on Arvid
Norberg's excellent libtorrent library from Rasterbar Software. The
program also relies on the Boost libraries.

Features:

While still at an early state of development Halite is a functional
BitTorrent client. So far its list of features is pretty standard but
that is because I want to ensure it does the basic stuff well.

That said, it supports:

  + Multiple downloads.
  + Displays more detailed information for the selected torrent.
  + Connection limits both global and per-torrent.
  + Transfer rate limits again global and per-torrent.
  + Minimize to tray with transfer rate summary.
  + Trackerless torrents (using the Mainline kademlia DHT protocol).
  + IP filtering with eMule ipfilter.dat import.
  + Association with ".torrent" files.
  + Option to limit the number of instances to one.
  + Estimated time remaining indicator.
  + Full Unicode support through UTF-8 and native Windows wide-char
    strings.
  + Login support where tracker requires it.
  + Ability to edit trackers specified in the torrent.

Planned in near future:

Listed here is what is being worked on in the short term; for a more
detailed list see [http://www.binarynotions.com/halite/roadmap.php].

  + Translations of the UI into a number of languages through the help
    of volunteers.
  + Improved and extended information on the details given for
    connected peers. 

Requirements: Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003 and Vista (Note currently
Vista users need to install the application to a directory where they
will have full read and write access to. The recommended solution is
to use the standalone exe distribution and not the installer.

Known Issues/Problems: 

Halite does not always gracefully accept configuration information
from previous versions. Should you experience crashes upon running
Halite you should delete any old Halite.ini.xml or Halite.xml. 

You will not lose any downloads in progress and those which do not
restart automatically can be done so manually by loading the
associated torrent file from the 'torrents' subdirectory.

Changes:

 - from v 0.2.8 to 0.2.9: 
   1) Full Unicode support!
   2) Rewitten XML fileformat with greatly improved robustness.
   3) New tabbed interface makes better use of screen real estate.
   4) Ability to edit Trackers and set login details.
   5) Comprehensive logging for diagnosing problems.
   6) Windows 2000 and Server 2003 supported fully.
   7) Updated to recent versions of Boost and libtorrent.
   8) Numerous bug fixes.
   9) Switched to MSVC 2005 compiler (8.0) for improved reliability
      though at the cost of slightly bigger executables.
   
- from v 0.2.7 to 0.2.8: 
   1) IP filtering support eMule style ipfilter.dat files.
   2) DHT support, thought it is turned off by default.
   3) Can select alternate save directory for torrents..
   4) New icon!

 - from v 0.2.6 to 0.2.7:
   1) By default Halite will only allow one instance to be launched 
   2) Halite can be set as the default program for '.torrent' files. 
   3) ETA indicator for torrents. 4) Minor GUI tweaks.

 - from v 0.2.5 to 0.2.6: 
   1) Fixed a silly bug (i.e. I should have caught it sooner) whereby
      exiting Halite from the tray would screw up the window layout
      next time running it.
   2) Added auto-selection to Torrents list to make it more intuitive.

 - from v 0.2 to 0.2.5: 
   1) The GUI is slightly altered so that it looks consistent and neat
      for a number of visual styles which I was able to test it on. 
   2) The ability to drag and drop torrent files into the app has been
      added.
   3) It will minimize to the tray instead of task bar and hovering
      mouse for the tray icon displays the current up and down rate. 
   4) Where previously the various limits boxes didn't validate
      properly now they do and any invalid input is interpreted as no
      limit and a nice infinity symbol is displayed. 
   5) Individual torrent info is saved and loaded when the program is
      closed and reopened allowing torrent limits to be remembered.
   6) If the program has to wait after the user clicking close for any
      active connections to shutdown down 'cleanly' an optional small
      dialog is displayed to alert the user that the program is still
      running.

Subversion: svn://svn.geekisp.com/halite

In addition you can check out the Trac site(trac.geekisp.com/halite)
but I haven't really done much with it ... yet.

Thanks:

It can be hard to remember to thank everyone but that is no excuse for
leaving someone out. If I have done so let me know.

  + Arvid Norberg- As the author of libtorrent he has made the single
    biggest contribution to this project.
    http://www.rasterbar.com/products/libtorrent/index.html

  + Christopher Kohloff- The man behind Boost.ASIO a crucial element
    of libtorrent and my own libhttp library.
    http://asio.sourceforge.net/

  + nudone (Nick Pearson)- The excellent artist who designed the icon
    for Halite. 
        wtfcody.com / nudsville.com

  + Austin- Very kindly made the Iss install script for Halite.

  + Everyone who has been in touch with me through email or the forum
    and have shared their ideas and feature requests for the client.
    They have given the project direction and purpose.