(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)

Direct Connect is (in its original incarnation) a peer-to-peer file sharing application written by Jon Hess at NeoModus. Today, however, the name most often refers to the network protocol that is used.

The original Neo-modus client has, in many users eyes, been superseded by other clients such as DC++, but yet still continues to be in use. The alternative open source clients are generally considered to have more features and fewer bugs than the original. There are in turn additional modified versions of these (see the DC++ article for a list of mods), developed for specialized communities (e.g., music-sharing communities) or for features that are either experimental or have been rejected to be included in the base client. There is continued interest to add requested features (such as ratings, language packs, etc.) to the Direct Connect-protocol/community, and mostly in a way that would allow the original Neo-modus client to cooperate with newer clients.