see this is one of the advantages of gnutella, if you don't like one client you just switch... I personally don't use Bearshare but I do tell others to use it, I also inform them of the spyware... basically bearshare is for windows users and I will admit it has been "idiot-proofed" rather nicely (at least the version that I did install a while ago) you don't need to mess with the options or anything and the network works nicely... it's very much like napster and that's what people want... I don't care if people include spyware in the program... 1) my life isn't that interesting that I worry about others stealing my identity 2) I got the prog for free... if I was paying for it and they felt the need to include the spyware then yes I'd be a little choked...

finally the one thing I dislike about bearshare but I will admit I know little about is, from what I understand, the current threats to eliminate Phex from the network because of bandwidth concerns... Gnutella is supposed to be an open protocol and it's about sharing and helping people... to me excluding clients with what I interpretted as "strong arm" tactics (threatining non-compliance between clients) is a little ridiculous...