GNU (GNU’s Not Unix) Project

Launched publicly by Richard Stallman on September 27, 1983, the goal is to create a completely free operating system. The GNU project has contributed many top-notch software, including GCC, Emacs, etc.

Please read first: About Open Source Software Mirror Alliance (Non-Technical Part), thank you

I. DNS or 301?

Update: I previously misunderstood DNS’s CNAME, now corrected. Reference: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3568

DNS solution (if I’m wrong, feel free to correct me):

1. Assign a secondary domain name to each mirror for separate scheduling; set NS record to the main site

2. User queries IP from ISP DNS

3. The main site returns one or more IP addresses of mirror nodes based on the source IP (ISP DNS’s IP)

4. ISP DNS returns this IP to the user, and caches it for a certain period

5. User establishes a connection with the mirror node and downloads
   301 solution:

6. Domain A record resolves to the main site

7. User establishes a connection with the main site and initiates an HTTP request

8. The main site returns HTTP 301 status based on the user’s source IP, redirecting to a mirror node

9. User establishes a connection with this mirror node and downloads

Terminology: (It feels quite awkward)

• Mirror: Like Ubuntu, CPAN, PyPi, etc.
• Mirror site: An open source mirror site at a university, each mirror site hosts several mirrors
• (Mirror) Node: Each mirror site that hosts the same mirror

Mirror Alliance Maintainers:

Following the Debian development model, the maintainers of the Mirror Alliance can be divided into Mirrors Maintainer and Mirrors Developer. Mirrors Developer are core developers who have maintenance access and decision-making voting rights on the main site of the Mirror Alliance; anyone involved in the development and maintenance of the Mirror Alliance can apply to become a Mirrors Maintainer.