Is the MUTE network going to die?

[Markus]

I noticed that it seems at least for me impossible to connect to the MUTE network due to lack of active MUTE nodes. Aware of the fact that only 5 out of the former 13 MUTE web caches are still functional I am unable to connect to the network. Am I the only one who is experiencing this problem or does anyone else have this too? 

[Motorcycleboy]

I am a newbie so I don't really understand what is supposed to be going on, but having installed Mute 0.5.1 I am baffled by the apparant lack of activity on the network.  Judging by the GUI the program appears to be dead, but the monitor for Filsclab firewall reveals that it is attempting to connect to a limited range of IPs over and over again.  This is what is shown in the log file:

L3 | Thu Jul 10 08:29:15 2008 (157 ms) | ConnectionMaintainer | Failed to get hosts from web cache.
L4 | Thu Jul 10 08:29:20 2008 (164 ms) | ConnectionMaintainer | Trying to add a new connection.
L4 | Thu Jul 10 08:29:20 2008 (164 ms) | ConnectionMaintainer | Adding a connection failed.
L4 | Thu Jul 10 08:29:20 2008 (164 ms) | ConnectionMaintainer | Found no hosts to connect to.
L4 | Thu Jul 10 08:29:20 2008 (164 ms) | ConnectionMaintainer | Trying to fetch more hosts from web caches.

I am using Filsclab Pro and I have made a rule for all ports to accept incomming and outgoing traffic under all protocols.

Does this mean that there are no active nodes due to the fact that there is no-one actually using Mute at this time?  Should I try the Mute MFC?  I would like to try RShare but I suspect that it would slow down my computer due to the requirement to have .NET installed.  The good thing about Mute is that when it not actually downloading it is using little system resources. 

Also where can I find a tutorial for newbies?  I tried the mymute.net website but I get a blank page using Firefox.

[Markus]

I am a newbie so I don't really understand what is supposed to be going on, but having installed Mute 0.5.1 I am baffled by the apparant lack of activity on the network.  Judging by the GUI the program appears to be dead, but the monitor for Filsclab firewall reveals that it is attempting to connect to a limited range of IPs over and over again. 

Each time you start MUTE it will contact some web caches who contains ip addresses of other MUTE nodes. Depending on the number of active nodes you have to wait a few minutes until a connection to the MUTE network can be established.

This is what is shown in the log file:

Seems that the number of active MUTE nodes is pretty low.

Does this mean that there are no active nodes due to the fact that there is no-one actually using Mute at this time? 

Some years ago MUTE was popular, however this has changed in the meantime. Other network and anonymous filesharing programs came out, and in contrast to MUTE development they are under active development. Under this circumstances you should not wonder why the MUTE network lost the majority of its user base.

Should I try the Mute MFC? 

I would rather recommend Kommute since it is under active development and provides better functionality like multi-source downloads.

I would like to try RShare but I suspect that it would slow down my computer due to the requirement to have .NET installed. 

Give StealthNet a try and you will see how much of your system resources are being consumed. .NET based applications doesn´t necessarily mean that you need a high-end system to run such software.

Also where can I find a tutorial for newbies?  I tried the mymute.net website but I get a blank page using Firefox.

Just search through the forums here or have a look at the MUTE FAQ.