Trying to find out about a Linux problem can be an extensive exercise in Web searching. What if a facility existed that would allow you to ask for information that specifically related to your Linux problem? What if your query for this information resulted in a real-time search, not a query of web-crawled data? Furthermore, what if you didn't have to know where to look for the facility that could give you this information? Sounds good, doesn't it?

We are proposing a project to utilize peer-to-peer searching, combined with repositories of Linux problem information, that would allow the average Linux user access to vast, real-time information about Linux problems. This facility would allow for fast, pertinent, keyword-based searching to find out whether others have had the same problem. If there are reports of the same problem, this facility would then help users find information on how to fix or work-around the problem. To help bring about this new tool for Linux users, we are building upon the existing open source Gnutella implementations and extending that protocol to allow for real-time queries across a vast number of problem data repositories.