Download portal
A download portal is a sub form of general Internet portals , but which restricts its content mainly to the possibility of software for different operating systems to download ( Download ) to make available. These can be free as well as paid offers.
origin
The origin of the term download is that in addition to the httpprotocol (the actual "Internet" in today's SInne) there is also the File Transfer Protocol ftp , which is used exclusively to save a certain file locally, while http transfer is automatically linked to the web browser , and at the beginning html- pages , possibly still pure text pages ( txtamong others) included. The early ftp clients simply represented the folder structure of a publicly accessible file system branch. With the implementation of the ftp client in the web browser, the download platform in the narrower sense emerged, on which the offer could be presented in a more appealing and detailed manner. With the implementation of additional plug-ins , in particular the image viewer (for image files of various formats) and then the image viewerpdf , ftp largely lost its importance because it didn't matter whether a file was stored on an http or ftp server : the file is saved locally, passed on to suitable application software for the format, or displayed directly within the browser, the user decides in the download settings of the web browser, also specifically for different file types . The download itself remained relevant only for operating system and application software , as well as for pure information data exchange.
With the growing together of the Internet and user groups , which were originally based on Usenet , the download portal in today's sense emerged. The aim of download portals is to bring interested parties and providers of applications together on one platform. For this purpose, portals usually offer a search function as well as data on updates of existing software, web space for documentation material and functions for uploads , and forums for questions and suggestions, for user ranking of the offers and similar exchange of experiences and ideas in addition to a division into different subject areas (categories) .
development
Due to the increasing automation of typical processes on the Internet, such as B. the automatic search engine registration, download portals are increasingly automatically filled with content. To make this task even easier, a standard XML format for describing software was developed. Manufacturers can specify all relevant information about their software in the PAD file; download portals only need to transfer this data to their own databases in order to keep the content up-to-date.
However, there is a risk of incorrect information or the description. Popular is z. B. the indication of freeware for commercial shareware in order to encourage more interested parties to download. Download portals have also been misused in this way in the past to distribute advertising software ( adware ) or even espionage software ( spyware ) and other malware.
The currently most modern form of the download portal are the app stores for apps , i.e. application software in the field of mobile computing.
The classic download platform for pure information data (documents, images, media) has found a successor in transmission services such as WeTransfer , which circumvent the data size limits in e-mail traffic by temporarily storing files.
Overall, however, the concept of downloads is increasingly being replaced by file hosting in the cloud concept, i.e. data is no longer stored locally at all, but only viewed on web servers when required and only temporarily stored in order to display it. One such principle is Dropbox , a principle that is implemented today as part of most accounts in social media , in online e-mails or customer accounts at the major Internet players. Even in the area of application, the traditional installation of interactive websites ( Web 2.0 ) is being replaced: The actual program runs on an Internet server that only delivers the display ( thin client - typical examples are search engines or GIS applications such as Google Maps , whose display program is in Is usually no longer installed by the user).
