1 | Halite: A Free Open-Source BitTorrent client |
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2 | |
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3 | Version: 0.3.1.6 dev 638 released 29th November 2008 |
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4 | |
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5 | WWW: http://www.binarynotions.com/halite-bittorrent-client |
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6 | Forum: http://www.binarynotions.com/forum.php |
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7 | |
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8 | Developer: Eóin O'Callaghan |
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9 | |
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10 | Halite (named after the mineral) is a BitTorrent client based on Arvid |
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11 | Norberg's excellent libtorrent library from Rasterbar Software. The |
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12 | program also relies on the Boost libraries. |
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13 | |
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14 | Features: |
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15 | |
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16 | While still at an early state of development Halite is a functional |
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17 | BitTorrent client. So far its list of features is pretty standard but |
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18 | that is because I want to ensure it does the basic stuff well. |
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19 | |
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20 | That said, it supports: |
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21 | |
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22 | + File selection and/or file priority specifications. |
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23 | + 'Managed torrent' queue system. |
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24 | + Disk cache support. |
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25 | + Trackerless torrents (using the Mainline kademlia DHT protocol). |
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26 | + IP filtering with eMule style ipfilter.dat import. |
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27 | + Protocol Encryption support. |
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28 | + Translations of the UI into a number of languages through the help |
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29 | of volunteers. (if you wish to help with a translation then please do) |
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30 | + Minimise to tray with transfer rate summary. |
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31 | + Full Unicode support through UTF-8 and native Windows wide-char |
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32 | strings. |
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33 | + Login support where tracker requires it. |
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34 | + Ability to edit trackers specified in the torrent. |
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35 | + Transfer rate and connection limits both global and per-torrent. |
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36 | + Torrent file creation. |
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37 | + Port randomisation and forwarding (UnPlug and Play or NAT-PMP) |
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38 | + Compatible with UAC. |
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39 | |
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40 | Requirements: Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista or Server 2008. |
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41 | |
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42 | Important note for people upgrading! |
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43 | |
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44 | When installing through the MSI file download, Halite will make a |
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45 | registry entry pointing it to use the local Application Data directory |
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46 | for all configuration files. User should manually copy any existing |
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47 | files from an older Halite version to that directory. The recommended |
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48 | files and folder to copy are: |
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49 | |
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50 | Halite.xml |
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51 | BitTorrent.xml |
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52 | IPFilter.bin |
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53 | DHTState.bin |
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54 | resume/* |
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55 | torrents/* |
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56 | |
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57 | These changes were necessary to make Halite fully compatible with User |
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58 | Account Control. To revert to 'portable mode' whereby all config |
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59 | information will be saved alongside the executable simply delete that |
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60 | registry key (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Halite\path). If you only |
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61 | ever used the standalone download release this will not be necessary. |
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62 | |
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63 | Big Known Issues |
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64 | |
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65 | + 'Queue View' mode is not supported on Windows 2000. |
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66 | + Sorting in 'Queue View' mode is currently not functional under XP. |
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67 | + CPU usage spikes if the file tab is left open for a torrent with a |
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68 | large number of separate files. |
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69 | |
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70 | Changes: |
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71 | |
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72 | + from v 0.3.1 to 0.3.1.6: |
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73 | 1) Based on libtorrent 0.14 which brings with it: |
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74 | - Disk cache support |
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75 | - 'Managed torrent' queue system |
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76 | - Improved seeding and choking behavior |
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77 | - Resource usage optimizations |
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78 | - Many more fixes and improvements |
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79 | (code.rasterbar.com/libtorrent/browser/tags/libtorrent-0_14/ChangeLog) |
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80 | |
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81 | 2) Optional port randomizations (both main and DHT). |
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82 | 3) Numerous internal settings are now exposed by the GUI. |
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83 | 4) Plays nice by Vista/Server 2008 UAC rules. See note above. |
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84 | 2) Rewritten XML fileformat (again) with greatly improved robustness. |
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85 | |
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86 | + from v 0.3.0.7 to 0.3.1: |
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87 | 1) Bug fixes. |
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88 | |
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89 | + from v 0.3.0.5 to 0.3.0.7: |
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90 | 1) Adds ability to create torrent files. |
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91 | 2) A lot of small improvements and bug fixes. |
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92 | |
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93 | - from v 0.3.0.2 to 0.3.0.5: |
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94 | 1) Right-click context menu option to 'Open download folder'. |
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95 | 2) Right-click context menu option to force a file recheck. |
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96 | 3) Option to move seeding torrent to another folder. |
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97 | 4) Fixed a bug with tracker logins. |
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98 | |
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99 | + from v 0.3 to 0.3.0.2: |
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100 | Mainly a bugfix release. |
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101 | 1) Fixed a bug with Tray Icon remaining after window was restored. |
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102 | 2) Torrent Connection and Transfer setting mapped to incorrect |
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103 | editbox. |
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104 | 3) Subtle bug where some settings didn't register straight away. |
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105 | |
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106 | + from v 0.2.9 to 0.3: |
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107 | 1) File selection and/or priority settings. |
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108 | 2) Protocol Encryption. |
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109 | 3) New tabbed interface makes better use of screen real estate. |
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110 | 4) Updated to recent versions of Boost (1.34.1) and libtorrent. |
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111 | 5) Numerous bug fixes. |
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112 | |
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113 | + from v 0.2.8 to 0.2.9: |
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114 | 1) Full Unicode support! |
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115 | 2) Rewitten XML fileformat with greatly improved robustness. |
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116 | 3) New tabbed interface makes better use of screen real estate. |
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117 | 4) Ability to edit Trackers and set login details. |
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118 | 5) Comprehensive logging for diagnosing problems. |
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119 | 6) Windows 2000 and Server 2003 supported fully. |
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120 | 7) Switched to MSVC 2005 compiler (8.0) for improved reliability |
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121 | though at the cost of slightly bigger executables. |
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122 | |
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123 | + from v 0.2.7 to 0.2.8: |
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124 | 1) IP filtering support eMule style ipfilter.dat files. |
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125 | 2) DHT support, thought it is turned off by default. |
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126 | 3) Can select alternate save directory for torrents.. |
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127 | 4) New icon! |
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128 | |
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129 | + from v 0.2.6 to 0.2.7: |
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130 | 1) By default Halite will only allow one instance to be launched |
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131 | 2) Halite can be set as the default program for '.torrent' files. |
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132 | 3) ETA indicator for torrents. 4) Minor GUI tweaks. |
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133 | |
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134 | + from v 0.2.5 to 0.2.6: |
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135 | 1) Fixed a silly bug (i.e. I should have caught it sooner) whereby |
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136 | exiting Halite from the tray would screw up the window layout |
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137 | next time running it. |
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138 | 2) Added auto-selection to Torrents list to make it more intuitive. |
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139 | |
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140 | + from v 0.2 to 0.2.5: |
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141 | 1) The GUI is slightly altered so that it looks consistent and neat |
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142 | for a number of visual styles which I was able to test it on. |
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143 | 2) The ability to drag and drop torrent files into the app has been |
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144 | added. |
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145 | 3) It will minimise to the tray instead of task bar and hovering |
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146 | mouse for the tray icon displays the current up and down rate. |
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147 | 4) Where previously the various limits boxes didn't validate |
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148 | properly now they do and any invalid input is interpreted as no |
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149 | limit and a nice infinity symbol is displayed. |
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150 | 5) Individual torrent info is saved and loaded when the program is |
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151 | closed and reopened allowing torrent limits to be remembered. |
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152 | 6) If the program has to wait after the user clicking close for any |
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153 | active connections to shutdown down 'cleanly' an optional small |
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154 | dialog is displayed to alert the user that the program is still |
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155 | running. |
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156 | |
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157 | Subversion: svn://svn.geekisp.com/halite |
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158 | |
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159 | In addition you can check out the Trac site (trac.geekisp.com/halite) |
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160 | but I haven't really done much with it ... yet. |
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161 | |
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162 | Thanks: |
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163 | |
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164 | It can be hard to remember to thank everyone but that is no excuse for |
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165 | leaving someone out. If I have done so let me know. |
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166 | |
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167 | + Arvid Norberg- As the author of libtorrent he has made the single |
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168 | biggest contribution to this project. |
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169 | http://www.rasterbar.com/products/libtorrent/index.html |
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170 | |
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171 | + Christopher Kohloff- The man behind Boost.ASIO a crucial element |
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172 | of libtorrent and my own libhttp library. |
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173 | http://asio.sourceforge.net/ |
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174 | |
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175 | + nudone (Nick Pearson)- The excellent artist who designed the icon |
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176 | for Halite. |
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177 | wtfcody.com / nudsville.com |
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178 | |
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179 | + Tw@in 28 for all the help moderating the forum. |
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180 | |
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181 | + Austin; very kindly made the Iss install script for Halite. |
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182 | |
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183 | + Everyone who has been in touch with me through email or the forum |
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184 | and have shared their ideas and feature requests for the client. |
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185 | They have given the project direction and purpose. |
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186 | |
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187 | + And of course all the translators: |
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188 | |
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189 | - devGod – Nederlandse vertaling. |
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190 | - MaikelChan - maikelchan88@gmail.com - Traducción en Español de España. |
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191 | - Prome – prome.lwaku.info – Avtor slovenskega prevoda. |
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192 | - Tw@in 28 – twain_28@hotmail.com - Traduttore Italiano. |
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193 | - u!^DEV - germanpg.hacker.to - deutsche Übersetzung. |
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194 | - webdr - www.langturk.com - Türkçe çeviri. |
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195 | - Čagalj - cagalj@mail.ru - Preveo sve na srpski (latinicu i ćirilicu). |
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196 | - AlexKrycek - alexkrycek0@gmail.com - μετάφραση στα ελληνικά. |
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