Direct Connect is (originally) a peer-to-peer file sharing application written by NeoModus, and today is the general type of application used in a Direct Connect network.
The Direct Connect network is not as de-centralised as gnutella or FastTrack, since it uses hubs which connect a group of users. Different hubs often have special areas of interest. Hubs often only admit users who share some set amount of bytes or files. Chatting is built into the protocol since the start, and so most hubs are actually small communities, more than just anonymous filesharing.
The original Neo-modus client has, in a lot of users' eyes, been superseded by other clients (DC++, DC:PRO), but still continues to be in wide use. The alternative clients share the common trait of having a larger feature set, and are typically less bug-ridden, because of being open-source. There are in turn additional modified versions of these (i.e. BCDC++, CZDC++, oDC, which are all based on DC++), developed for specialized communities (e.g., music-sharing communities). There is continued interest to add requested features (such as ratings, hashes, 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.
Direct Connect hubs seem to have difficulties scaling above 1,000 users, probably due to the broadcast-centricity of the protocol. Many other Direct Connect file-sharing communities seek to keep their populations low, and their very existence under the radar of media industries seeking legal means to stem the flow of digital exchange of copyrighted material.
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