If you are using an x86 system I am hosting some content discussing this very issue. It's called CBT - Understanding Common Gnutella Problems (program) You can also read about the effects of freeriding at http://www.openp2p.com for an indepth study on the subject.

At my web site under GCCC (Gnutella Content Community Creation) - I discuss the various aspects of sharing and the need for content communities.

http://www.leeware.com

I'll explain why using the freeloader file setting does not help the situation:

Lets say that there are X users sharing good content and X users want to encourage sharing so they set the freeloader limits 500 files before some (Y) can connect to download content.

Forgoing all of the issues with this... let's turn our attention to Y who want access to the content being hosted by X. Y doesn't have any ("good content" to offer in order to meet the sharing requirements.) So what does Y do?

Answer: If Y is a x86 user Y simply shares his %systemroot% folder (which contains exes and dlls and other files necessary to run his box.) There can be more than a 1,000 files in these directories many of which most people will never download. Assuming they are viruses or don't need them on a fully functional system.)


So, Y now has access to Xs content without adding any value to the content on the Gnutella network (Sharing has been encouraged but the desired results of encouraging people to share content of value has not.)

Free riding continues and no value has been added to the content on the network.

__________________
Lee Evans, President
LeeWare Development
http://www.leeware.com