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What is the fastest way to distribute free software? If you said the internet you are mistaken, but its an understandable error. The internet is only a speedy route if youve got a good connection. For much of the world, thats out of reach. A computer scientist has responded to this by developing a neat self-replicating USBthumbdrive.

Thierry Monteil at the Universit Montpellier II in France is working on a way to copy data to USB drives that allows users to disseminate the information easily, even if they lack computer knowhow.The drive is a bootable disk that contains a full copy of Debian Linux and tools like the math program Sage. A user on an unreliable internet connection cant just decide to swing by and download 3GB of data, but a USB drive of the necessary size only costs a few dollars these days. Heres the key: plug a second drive into the computer and execute the clone command from the included shortcut, and the software is copied to the other drive, sans any personal information.

A USB 2.0 port can transfer data at about 30MB/s, which is orders of magnitude faster than the dial-up internet connection available in many areas. The close to zero time needed to duplicate data means this self-replicating drive could spread at a logarithmic rate as people share it.

This isnt a perfect system, though. Everyone still needs a USB drive to get access to the software, and its possible someone not so possessed by good could insert malware into the chain at some point. Monteil suggests keeping transfers local for that reason like among people that share a classroom or a workplace.

Now read:USB 3.1 spec solves first world problem, introduces smaller, reversible USB plug

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Self-replicating USB thumbdrives are faster than the internet in the developing world