RE: returning results for partial downloads

On Oct 7 2007, Philippe Verdy wrote:
> My opinion is that such optimization should not 
> be based on a average local metric but on the network as a whole.

Agreed, the long-term goal is to encourage everyone to upload, maximising 
the overall utility of the network. But in my opinion we need to look for 
local ways to achieve that, by giving individuals an incentive to upload - 
hence the two metrics, one measuring local incentives and the other 
measuring overall utility.

I'm not sure how the concept of fairness fits into that approach - all the 
definitions of fairness I've come across are either based on a goal of 
equality ("from each according to his ability, to each according to his 
need"), which contradicts the incentive-based approach by allocating 
resources regardless of contribution, or based on a goal of reciprocity 
("those who do not work shall not eat"), which is arguably redundant in an 
incentive-based approach.

The idea of using stability as a metric to be optimised in its own right is 
very interesting - I'll have to think about how to apply that locally.

Cheers,
Michael