About GHNS
"Get Hot New Stuff" is the developer-biased codename for a concept which allows users to create data, share it with others over the internet, provide evaluation by user ratings and download numbers, and finally offers a convenient way to download the files one wants to install. Since many different usage scenarios exist, the GHNS name refers to the underlying concept, whereas the actual implementations carry different names. GHNS consists of software for the desktops and the server, as well as a webservice architecture, and the specifications of file formats and protocols upon which the whole concept is based.
History
The basic idea for uploads, downloads, user ratings and collaboration came into existance during LinuxTag 2002. Before the event was over, a proof of concept implementation was created on the KDE booth, dubbed KDEShare. Over the next months, a similar design was used in KOrganizer, and both were finally merged to KNewStuff during the 2003 Kastle conference. Since then, a lot of development went into the library, but even more so into the surrounding framework. In May 2005, the idea of extending these concepts to other desktops were shaped, as the GNOME Art downloader provided a similar funcionality, and in June 2005 the new GHNS website went live.
Architecture
On the client side, a desktop library provides upload and download dialogs to all applications. The data is sent to or received from a server, on which several tools ensure that the format is correct, the data is sorted and so on. Additionally, web interfaces allow for a quick access from anywhere, while webservices enable application authors to integrate GHNS functionality in modern SOAP-based software.