   O/S indepentent networking?
  are there any libraries..free, that provide cross platform netowkring, i have done networking with windows winsocks, but seems slightly different in linux :-/ 
  http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=library+%22platform+independent%22+sockets&spell=1 ;  You could try SDL_Net ;  roll your own.detect what operating system you are on and then set some function pointers to the right functions for that platform.the difference isnt big between say winsock and berkely sockets "A soldier is a part of the 1% of the population that keeps the other 99% free"  - Lt. Colonel Todd, 1/38th Infantry, Ft. Benning, GA 