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eDonkey2000 is a peer-to-peer file sharing application developed by MetaMachine , using the Multisource File Transfer Protocol.

The eDonkey file sharing network is decentralized like many other file sharing networks. Two kinds of applications connect to the network: client and server. Clients allow users to connect to the network and to share files. Servers act as hubs for the clients. Both client and server are available for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux and other UNIX variants.

EDonkey uses a compound MD4 hash checksum to identify files. This function allows identification of identical files with different filenames. Another feature of eDonkey is that it shares file segments before the download completes; this speeds up file distribution throughout the network.

The network is based on a decentralized server network. Anybody can set up a server. Because the server network changes frequently, clients must maintain server lists.

Users on eDonkey predominantly share large files of tens or hundreds of megabytes, such as CD images, videos, games, and software programs. To ease file searching, some websites list the checksums of sought-after files in the form of an ed2k link. Some of those websites also have lists of active servers for users to update.

There are numerous other clients for the eDonkey network, some of which are open source:

• eMule is an open source Windows client, and as of 2004 is much more popular than the MetaMachine client. Ports of eMule to Unix platforms include xMulexMule was a fork of LMule, itself a port of eMule. Due to differences between the developers, the fork aMule was spawned. aMule continues in active development while xMule is now struggling with only one remaining developer. External link ., lMuleLMule was an early attempt to bring an eMule like client to Linux. Alternative applications were at the time command line applications whilst LMule was very similar to eMule in look and feel. As sometimes happens with open source projects, the developers and aMuleIn computing, aMule is a peer to peer file sharing application that works with the eDonkey computer network, but offers more features than the standard eDonkey client. It is based on the eMule sourcecode, and evolved from LMule and xMule. It is now the Li (which aims to support Win32 and Mac too).
• MLDonkeyMLDonkey is an open source multi-network peer-to-peer application. It is also the name of the P2P overlay that the MLDonkey uses. Originally a Linux client for the eDonkey protocol, it now runs on many flavors of Unix, Mac OS X, and Windows and supports n is a free software client that runs on many platforms and supports numerous other file-sharing protocols as well.
• ShareazaShareaza is a Windows-based [multi] Peer-to-Peer client which supports the Gnutella, Gnutella2, eDonkey2000, and BitTorrent network protocols. It was developed by Michael Stokes. In late 2002, Shareaza's founder introduced Gnutella2, a reworked version of is another multi-network client that has recently added support for eDonkey.
• MediaVAMP (later changed to Pruna) is a Korean only client.

The inventor of eDonkey invented another file-sharing network called OvernetOvernet is a decentralized peer-to-peer computer network, usually used for sharing large files (e. movies and CD images). Overnet implements the Kademlia algorithm. It is the creation of Jed McCaleb, the creator of eDonkey2000. The two clients are merged,, which interoperates with the eDonkey network, but without the use of any servers. Most eDonkey Clients now also use the Overnet network. In 2004, MetaMachines announced it would stop the development of Overnet to concentrate on eDonkey2000 (though the eDonkey2000 client now includes the Overnet protocol).