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[Textbook]

CODE

ftp://nickname:[email protected]:21

Clicking on this will allow you to browse the FTP server (Xbins) and copy files to your Xbox hard drive.  Granted, most files on Xbins are RAR and ZIP archives.  This shouldn't be a problem though, as XBMC (open-source) already has RAR and ZIP extraction.

Here's a picture to show what I mean...


I don't think this would be very difficult, because it really doesn't use anything new.

IRC

An IRC connection would probably be the biggest hurdle, but we already know it is possible.  Avalaunch dashboard has an IRC Client built into it.  Unfortunately, the source code for Avalaunch was never released.  We do know the IRC Client works though.

Here are a few links to some open-source IRC Clients for the PC (might be of help):

HydraIRC
DIY .NET IRC Client
Visual C++ IRC Client

Does anybody else think this would be useful?  I know I would use it, it saves having to download stuff on my computer, then FTP it over to my Xbox.

This can already be done using only your Xbox, if you use Avalaunch, open the IRC Client, join #xbins, type /msg xbins !list, then use the file manager to connect to the FTP server.  I just think it would be a lot better to have a specific app dedicated to this purpose.

What do you guys think?

[[Captain_America]]

sounds sweet, i always love the idea of an integrated app. so if u wanted to download an app, youd just select it, then select the target path, like E:/Apps/. that'd be sweet

[foxxfella]

Wow I'd love to see that!

[PC509]

If you were to talk to the #xbins guys, you may be able to implement something like this:

1. No IRC needed. Have a separate FTP username/password for XBox users.
2. Instead of having all apps, just have the ones that run on the XBox, most recent build, and not in a zip format. This would get rid of the need for ZIP/RAR functionality, and lower bandwidth for people getting PC apps, or old builds.
3. Keep the download limit, or lower it, as it will be unzipped and take more bandwidth.

This would greatly improve the ease of use. Basically, it would just require a small FTP script, maybe a custom #XBINS program that does everything. You put in all the directories in the config, and after that, it's almost automatic (other than configuring the config file for the new download).

This could be a very great feature of #Xbins, but it may also cause it to be shutdown easier. It would allow people to access the files much easier, and make them more noticed to MS...

I'd love to see it, though.

[veeper]

I think removing IRC and compression from xbins won't happen. You must think of security and bandwidth, both is very important to the platform, maybe even more important than all the software on it together.
But nice idea, anyway...  

[Hashmire420]

well if i setup my new computer with an xdk i might take a crack at that visual c++ one it would probably a nearly direct port, and ftp is already done for me.  This might be super easy.

[unleashdomainx]

so this is going to be a xbins-tirc ported to xbox? cool hope it comes out.

[Textbook]

It would be whatever somebody makes it to be.  I have no programming experience necessary, but I thought it was a good idea that would be relatively easy to program (considering it's all been done before).  I just decided to post my idea to see if somebody would consider making it if they were bored.  So if somebody makes it, it will be what they want it to be, I was just providing the idea.

[Albert Street]

QUOTE(hanlong @ Jul 20 2006, 06:37 PM)

I can perhaps look into doing this. However if I take a crack at it, it most likely would be a XBMC Python Script instead of a outright XBox homebrew app. But its a really good idea nontheless.

That would be awesome if you did that hanlong, even better if you made it an xbmc script.

[hanlong]

I've already written a few personal xbmc scripts for my own use, so I can use that knowledge =)

I already thought up how to do it, just need to find time for it since I work during the day (as a software engineer) and many things consume my non-working free time.

I wrote a FTP client with python before (not for xbmc, but for your PC), so I can literally use that with some modifications for the FTPing between xbins server and your xbox. Zip/RAR isn't a problem really, there's python libraries that handle those sort of things. I absolutely hate designing interfaces, but I can thank Textbook's pic on the thread for making that part simple His idea for the interface looks clean and simple, which is good. The IRC thing isn't that big of an issue, if you think about it, you don't need a full IRC client (likewise, you would not need to support FTP uploading, only downloading is fine). All you need is to connect to the server, msg the #xbins channel and wait for the proper response. I would forgo looking at any existing IRC source code (because we aren't looking for a IRC client, we just need it to do exactly what we want, aka msg xbins !list to get proper auth to login to the FTP server). All that's necessary is to create a simple socket connection and send the right msgs. http://tools.ietf.org/html/1459 is the official IRC protocol documentation won't be too hard to piece together the exact packets you want.

My biggest worry (outside of my own time constraints), is the fact that whether or not the xbins people would be happy or upset that I created such a thing. I'm thinking they made people go onto their IRC channel for a purpose before downloading off them, and this would seem like a "cheap" bypass of that system. I wouldn't want to start this project until I can get a favorable response from them, since they've done so much for the xbox homebrew community, I wouldn't necessary want to cause them grief.

[darkendshadow]

QUOTE

My biggest worry (outside of my own time constraints), is the fact that whether or not the xbins people would be happy or upset that I created such a thing. I'm thinking they made people go onto their IRC channel for a purpose before downloading off them, and this would seem like a "cheap" bypass of that system. I wouldn't want to start this project until I can get a favorable response from them, since they've done so much for the xbox homebrew community, I wouldn't necessary want to cause them grief.

i wouldnt be too woried about that cause there is an app called xbins-tirc which is pretty much the same thing except its for pc