Comparison of Direct Connect software

This article compares features and other data about client and server software for Direct Connect, a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol.

Hub software

For additional Hub software, see Comparison of ADC software § General.

Direct Connect hubs are central servers to which clients connect, thus the networks are not as decentralized as Gnutella or FastTrack. Hubs provide information about the clients, as well as file-searching and chat abilities. File transfers are done directly between clients, in true peer-to-peer fashion.

Hubs often have special areas of interest. Many have requirements on the total size of the files that their members share (share size), and restrictions on the content and quality of shares. A hub can have any arbitrary rule. Hubs can allow users to register and provide user authentication. The authentication is also in clear text. The hub may choose certain individuals as operators (similar to IRC operators) to enforce said rules if the hub itself cannot.

While not directly supported by the protocol, hub linking software exists. The software allow multiple hubs to be connected, allowing users to share and/or chat with people on the other linked hubs. Direct connect hubs have difficulty scaling, due to the broadcast-centricity of the protocol.

General

NMDC [1] hub	FOSS	Software license	Active [2]	Last update [3] (version)	GUI	CLI	Other	IPv6 support	Programming language	Based on	Notes
UFOHub	No	Proprietary Freeware	Yes	2024-09-05 (10.24.9)	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Un­known
Verlihub	Yes	GNU GPL	Yes	2023-12-16 (1.5.0.0)	No	Yes	Un­known	No	C++, Lua, Python, Perl
PTDCH	Yes	GNU GPL	No	2009-01-16 (2.1 Alpha 7)	Yes	Un­known	Un­known	No	Visual Basic, Jscript, VBscript	DDCH
Dtella	Yes	GNU GPL	No	2015-06-07 (1.2.9) [4]	No	No	Yes	No	Python
HeXHub	Yes	Open Software License	No	2014-03-01 (5.12)	Yes	Un­known	Un­known	No	Assembly
Open Direct Connect Hub	Yes	GNU GPL	No	2014-08-14 (0.8.3)	No	Un­known	Un­known	No	C, Perl		Available in Debian [5] and OpenWrt [6]
Flexhub	Yes	GNU AGPL	No	2013-10-22 (Beta 0.2 svn 1469)	Pending	Yes	Un­known	No	Lua
PtokaX	Yes	GNU GPL	Yes	2022-12-29 (0.5.3.0) [7]	Yes	Yes	Un­known	Yes	C++, Lua
RusHub	Yes	GNU GPL	No	2012-06-10 (2.3.10) [8]	No	Yes	Un­known	Yes	C++, Lua	Verlihub [9]
Eximius [10]	No	Proprietary Freeware	No	2007	Yes	Un­known	Un­known	No	C#, Lua
DB Hub	Yes	GNU GPL	No	2008-02-08 (0.451)	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	No	Un­known	OpenDCHub
openDCd	Yes	GNU GPL	No	2002-03-26 (0.5.8)	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	No	Un­known
DDCH DevDirect Connect Hub	Un­known	Un­known	No	2007-04-15 (?.?.?) [11]	Yes	No	No	No	Visual Basic, Jscript
py-dchub	Yes	MIT	No	2006-02-13 (0.2.4)	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	No	Python
Aquila	Yes	GNU GPL	No	2015-02-17 (0.1.11-pre4-beta4)	No	Yes	No	No	C++, Lua
YnHub	No	Proprietary Freeware	No	2016-07-15 (1.0364.126)	Yes	No	No	No	Delphi
LamaHub	Yes	GNU GPL	No	2010-04-25 (0.0.6.3)	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	No	C
DC Sharp Hub	Yes	GNU GPL	No	2004-09-06 (3.0.4 beta)	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	No	C#
NMDC [1] hub	FOSS	Software license	Active [2]	Last update [3] (version)	GUI	CLI	Other	IPv6 support	Programming language	Based on

Operating system support

NMDC [1] hub	Windows	Linux	macOS	Other
UFOHub	Yes	No	No	No
Eximius	Yes	No	No	No
PTDCH	Yes	No	No	No
Aquila	Yes	Yes	No	No
Dtella	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
HeXHub	Yes	No	No	No
Open Direct Connect Hub	No	Yes	No	OpenWrt
Flexhub	Yes	Yes	No	Qnap and Synology NAS Devices
openDCd	Yes	Yes	No	No
DDCH DevDirect Connect Hub	Yes	No	No	No
DBHub	No	Yes	No	No
PtokaX	Yes	Yes	Yes	FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, Solaris, illumos, Haiku
py-dchub	Yes	Yes	Yes	Any Python compatible platform
RusHub	Yes	Yes	Yes	FreeBSD, Solaris
VerliHub	No	Yes	No	No
Yhub	Yes	No	No	No
Ynhub	Yes	No	No	No
LamaHub	Yes	Yes	Yes	OS/2, OpenBSD, NetBSD, TrueOS, FreeBSD, ZeX/OS, Android [12]
DC Sharp Hub	Yes	No	No	No
NMDC [1] hub	Windows	Linux	macOS	Other

Client software

While not mandated by the protocol, most clients send a "tag". This is part of the client's description and display information ranging from client name and version to number of total available slots to if the user is using a proxy server. It was originally added to DC++, due to its ability to be in multiple hubs with the same instance. The information is arbitrary. The original client's file list (a comprehensive list of the files a user shares) was compressed using Huffman's compression algorithm. Newer clients (among them DC++) serve an XML-based list, compressed with bzip2.

General

NMDC [1] Client	FOSS	Software license	Last update [3] (version)	Windows	Linux	macOS	Other OS	GUI	CLI	Other UI	Programming language	Based on
MLDonkey	Yes	GNU GPL	2020-06-06 (3.1.7-2)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	WebUI	OCaml, C, assembly
Shareaza	Yes	GNU GPL	2017-09-18 2.7.10.2	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Un­known	Un­known	C++
NeoModus Direct Connect	No	Proprietary Freeware	2004-10-23 2.205	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Visual Basic, C++
ShakesPeer	Yes	GNU GPL	2013-06-08	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	C
Valknut	Yes	GNU GPL	2009-02-10 0.4.9	No	Yes	No	FreeBSD	Yes	No	No	C++
DCTC	Yes	GNU GPL	2004-01-24 0.85.9					No	No	Yes	C++
DC#	Yes	GNU GPL		Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	C#
LDCC	Yes	GNU GPLv2	2004-07-15 2.0.7	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	C
DCDM++	Yes	GNU GPL	2004-04-04 0.021	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	C++	DC++
fulDC	Yes	GNU GPL	2007-04-01 6.79 Beta 8	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	C++	DC++
RevConnect	Yes	GNU GPL	2007-08-25 0.674p	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	C++	DC++
CzDC	Yes	GNU GPL	2011-01-20 0.699	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	C++	DC++
EiskaltDC++	Yes	GNU GPL	2021-03-02 2.4.2	No	Yes	Yes	FreeBSD	Yes	No	No	C++	Valknut
microdc2	Yes	GNU GPL	2006-12-24 0.15.6	No	Yes	Yes	FreeBSD	No	Yes	No	C
NMDC [1] Client	FOSS	Software license	Last update [3] (version)	Windows	Linux	macOS	Other OS	GUI	CLI	Other UI	Programming language	Based on

Other software

Hub linking software links hubs' main chat, so that users can see and respond to chat that is in a hub they're not directly connected to. Often used to draw in users to hubs, or make private or small hubs more widely known. Whereas advertising a hub is "frowned upon" and is usually repercussion with floods or denial of service attacks, forming a more or less formal network by means of linking hub chat is a legitimate means for getting free publicity. Some Hub programs are able to support a more advanced form of linking which includes all the normal functions, chat, private messages, search and file transfers between users on different hubs can be supported through hub specific solutions or hub software neutral extensions using scripts/plug-ins.

General

Other software	Software type	FOSS	Software license	Active [2]
jDCBot	General library	Yes	GNU GPL	Yes
Net::DirectConnect	General library	Yes	Un­known	Yes
FlowLib	General library	Yes	GNU GPL	Yes
DC-hublink	Link	Yes	GNU GPL	No
Hub-Link	Link	Yes	GNU GPL	No
MyIrcDcLinks	Link	Yes	GNU GPL	Yes
NetChatLink	Link	Yes	GNU GPL	Yes
Kitty	Bot	Yes	GNU GPL	No
Other software	Software type	FOSS	Software license	Active [2]

Operating system support

Other software	Windows	Linux	macOS	Other
jDCBot	Yes	Yes	Yes	Any Java compatible platform
Net::DirectConnect	Yes	Yes	Yes	Any Perl compatible platform
FlowLib	Yes	Yes	Yes	Any C# compatible platform
DC-hublink	Yes	No	No	No
Hub-Link	Yes	No	No	No
MyIrcDcLinks	Yes	No	No	No
NetChatLink	Yes	No	No	Runs under WINE
Kitty	Yes	No	No	No
Other software	Windows	Linux	macOS	Other

Interface and programming

Other software	GUI	CLI	Other	Programming language	Based on
jDCbot	No	No	No	Java
Net::DirectConnect	No	No	No	Perl
FlowLib	No	No	No	C#
DC-hublink	Yes	No	No	Visual Basic
Hub-Link	Yes	No	No	Visual Basic
MyIrcDcLinks	Yes	No	No	Delphi
NetChatLink	Yes	No	No	Delphi
Kitty	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	C#
Other software	GUI	CLI	Other	Programming language	Based on

References

1. NMDC: NeoModus Direct Connect
2. Projects are considered "Active" if they produced an update in the last 5 years.
   This field can be out of date easily.
3. Date format: YYYY-MM-DD
4. "Dtella Labs". dtella.org. Archived from the original on 2012-07-11. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
5. "Package: opendchub (0.8.2-2)". debian.org. Archived from the original on 2014-04-16. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
6. "Index of /snapshots/trunk/ar71xx/packages/". openwrt. Archived from the original on 2014-04-16. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
7. "PtokaX Direct Connect Hub". www.ptokax.org. Archived from the original on 2012-09-07. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
8. "RusHub - Browse /RusHub at SourceForge.net". sourceforge.net. Archived from the original on 2012-07-22. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
9. "rushhub.org". rushhub. Archived from the original on 2015-06-23. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
10. "Eximius". RS2Soft.nl. 8 May 2009. Archived from the original on 8 May 2009. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
11. http://taggedwiki.zubiaga.org/new_content/ac3c62d0fc77c14330e370c7e6331e6f#DDCH_DevDirect_Connect_Hub Retrieved 08 June 2023.
12. "LamaHub DC++ hubsoft". lamahub.sourceforge.net. Archived from the original on 2012-12-25. Retrieved 30 December 2016.