Quoting James Cameron <quozl at us.netrek.org>:
> Yes, COW source in CVS, file parsemeta.c, last heavy edits were a
> collaboration between Carlos and I to add UDP metaserver support,
> which contacts multiple metaservers instead of just one, doesn't
> get delayed by TCP/IP connection setup times, and merges the many
> replies it gets.

If you want to query the metaserver in your front end, the UDP
protocol is explained in the COW.DOC file under the "Metaserver"
section, or at the following URL towards the end after the March 1999
entry:

http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=MPG.119c27b4837876669896b0%40news

(btw, deja really needs to have a "give me a URL to just this article"
instead of the context-filled monstrosity that's there by default. 
selm is all I need)

> The module also contains the older, simpler TCP based metaserver
> protocol.

Which just text parses the output of "telnet metaserver 3521"

--Carlos V.