Updating GeoLite2-Country.mmdb ?

[The-Gig]

Latest Monster Browser version 0.9j is from 2022, three years ago. I guess the IP-Area database shipped with it might be starting getting old.
What about providing some way to help people downloading a newer database?
Even just placing a link to https://github.com/P3TERX/GeoLite.mmdb https://git.io/GeoLite2-Country.mmdb (if that's where you got it) in the Tools menu (and some instructions in the readme file) might be something, I guess?

[torhus]

Yes, I've been wondering how to solve that issue. To download it directly from MaxMind I would need to include my license key in the MB distribution, which isn't deal. And there are limitations to how often you can download using each key, etc. Maybe the first step would be to have MB load the database from the settings and data folder instead of the installation folder, since the latter is typically read-only 🤔...

[SiLenCe-WB]

Yeah, an update would be cool. My current AWS quake 3 server, located in Spain, looks like it's in the US 😂

[SiLenCe-WB]

I downloaded a new GeoLite2-Country.mmdb from here for now.

[The-Gig]

Sorry, I missed your replies (I noticed after seeing you released 0.9k with an updated database today). What do you mean you need a key to download the database? I click that link https://git.io/GeoLite2-Country.mmdb and the download automatically starts, without asking any key.

[Searching a little...]
I see the maxmind webpages actually talking about license keys and download volumes
https://dev.maxmind.com/geoip/updating-databases/
https://support.maxmind.com/knowledge-base/articles/download-and-update-maxmind-databases
But at the moment I'm too sleepy to understand how that relates with people (manually or automatically) downloading the file from git.io instead of directly from maxmind website... Could you please be so kind to sum it up?

Does that git webpage infringe Maxmind EULA or something?

[torhus]

The problem is that there is no official way of "just downloading" a new database anymore, and I don't know if I should recommend people downloading it from alternative sources. I'm not sure about their EULA, I can't stand reading those. I guess I could just suggest that databases can be found on the web...

There are also other databases that are compatible, I've tested this one: https://db-ip.com/db/download/ip-to-country-lite
A little easier to download, you just need to check the box before downloading. But the file name is different, you either have to change that, or edit Monster Browser's settings file.

I released an updated MB version yesterday, that should fix it for a while...

[The-Gig]

That MaxMind licensing puzzles me. https://www.maxmind.com/en/geolite2/eula It looks like it incorporates "something" that is under a Creative Common license (so the requirement to "attribute" with phrases like "This product includes GeoLite2 Data created by MaxMind, available from https://www.maxmind.com), but also the need to have a commercial license to distribute the package with your own software, and the obligation to destroy your copies of older versions of the database within 30 days from their release of a new version. I guess the goal is to prevent spreading of outdated databases, but it still sounds quite impractical, to me.

And that git mirror might be a bit sketchy. I'm not sure, but it doesn't feel completely right. It attributes MaxMind and if he's got a commercial license he might be allowed to redistribute the package, but I don't know whether that includes "mirroring" it on a public web page (I expected that to be meant more like what you do with MonsterBrowser, including it along your own program that uses the database).

Maybe looking into another database would be the best thing.
The one you found seems like a legit website, and it allows to download a "low accuracy" database without registration.
I have absolutely no idea about how "good" the actual data from "DB-IP.com IP to Country Lite" is comparing to the MaxMind database, but the licensing seems simpler, just a good old CC-BY alone:
"You are free to use this IP to Country Lite database in your application, provided you give attribution to DB-IP.com for the data."

(I don't know what's the Accuracy Index for MaxMind's database instead)

In practice, one may even download the current DB-IP Lite database directly from a link without clicking any checkbox, but that link changes every month.
https://download.db-ip.com/free/dbip-country-lite-2025-11.mmdb.gz

If that database seems to be "good enough", I would suggest switching to that by default, to avoid any risk of licensing problems (mentioning its license and attribution somewhere), and I would add inside the program a link opening a dialog window that would in turn include a link to https://db-ip.com/db/download/ip-to-country-lite and brief instructions about how to manually download the right file

and how to extract it. One might also mention the MaxMind alternative exists, but that its official downloads require registration.