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Fountain codes are a class of erasure code, but not a specific tool.


Is this a specific tool that implements fountain codes then?


Um, no. From reading the source, I believe this tool only uses Reed Solomon, which is not a fountain code. The actual erasure code implementation(s) live in external libraries.

Fountain codes have historically been patent encumbered (invented in the early 2000s) in a way that Reed Solomon (1960s) is not. So most open source software does not use them. We might see more use going forward with those patents expiring.




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