Why BitTorrent sucks (if you have a little money).

[aryayush]

Hello.

Foreword: I’ve been meaning to write about this for a long time now but never found an Indian forum that had a high level of tolerance and an attitude open enough to permit discussion of this sort. TechEnclave seems like it wouldn’t mind, so I’m going ahead and posting it here. It took a lot of effort to write everything I’ve written below, so please don’t start flaming me without reading the whole essay. If, after reading it, you have something to add, some corrections to make, or even just want to participate in the discussion, please feel free to throw in your two cents. Any and all contributions are appreciated.

Disclaimer: The following essay is intended to be used for educational purposes only. I discourage you from using it for obtaining illegal content from the Internet and anyone who uses the knowledge gained from this article to do so bears full liability for his/her actions. This article purposely excludes links to any of the sources mentioned herein. Please abstain from piracy.

Qualification: So, what qualifies me to give anyone a speech on what to use and what to avoid? Loads and loads of experience. I’m a voracious downloader and have used pretty much every protocol known to humans, whether it be a smaller P2P network like Gnutella or the much wider in scope BitTorrent. I’ve downloaded from HTTP and FTP servers and I’ve downloaded from websites like RapidShare as well. The only thing I haven’t used it UseNet and that’s because there is no way to try it out before paying for a subscription. So I like to think I’m a little more qualified than the average Joe and can be trusted to have good reasons behind my choices.

BitTorrent | Advantages: The argument in favour of BitTorrent is a pretty simple one—it’s all free. Given that a lot of people use these networks for acquiring paid stuff for free, it seems counter-intuitive to suggest that you pay for downloading those files. I mean, if I wanted to pay in the first place, why would I even bother with any of these networks at all? BitTorrent allows anyone to download a free client and use free public trackers to download files from.

The other pro-BitTorrent feature is the sheer size and scope of the network. Since BitTorrent is so huge, you can be almost assured that no matter what you search for, you will find it. Even the oldest and most obscure bits of digital data can be found somewhere on BitTorrent, lurking in a corner, waiting for some seeders and leechers to come along (more on that in a moment).

Finally, the speed. If you’re one of the elite few who have memberships on pretty much every private tracker out there, you’re all set. Your downloads come in at the maximum speeds your connection can support and you’re a happy camper.

BitTorrent | Disadvantages: For every BitTorrent advantage mentioned above, there is a huge “butâ€. OK, maybe not for the part about it being free. BitTorrent is free—free as in free beer—and there are no two ways about it. But does it really have the older and unpopular files? Technically, it does; practically, not so much. Sure, the files are there in the system but bereft of any seeders, they basically permanently lie on the brink of death. All that’s left of them is a small torrent file that keeps turning up in search results but is impossible for anyone to download anything using.

Speed. Yeah, that’s a joke. Sure, if you’re on a private tracker, you’re all set. But what if you’re not, like the vast majority of BitTorrent users? Public trackers are full of leechers and downloading from them is like an exercise in patience. And it becomes even lousier when you want to download larger files. All too often, people start downloading 4GB files at snail-like speeds, spend a week and gobs of bandwidth trying to download it, only to end up stuck at 94% with a useless file. Public trackers are an utter mess.

So just use private trackers, right? Yeah, good luck with that! Trying to get in on the private tracker game is an exercise in humility. After begging for an invite on hundreds of boards and being refused as many times as they try (please don’t take any offense; I’ve done this myself far too many times in my life), a lot of people just give up on their dream of ever boarding the Internet’s information superhighway. The worst part is how people expect you to have something to trade all the time, as if you’d be scrounging for an invite if you had any to spare.

And what if you do manage to get an invite, huh? On India’s crappy broadband connections with paltry upload speeds, you’ll end up getting blacklisted from the site before you can utter the word “trackerâ€. BitTorrent’s requirement that every user upload at least half as much as he downloads sounds good on paper, what with the obvious inspiring message about having a spirit of community and all that, but it’s a pain in the rear in real life. The sad thing is that even if you’re not a leecher at heart (like me) and genuinely want to give back to the community, there is no way for you to do so if you don’t have a good connection. There are hundreds to people from other countries with 40Mbps connections who’re already seeding on private trackers all the time. Do you really think you stand any chance with your 512Kbps upload speeds? Short answer: No, you don’t.

One other drawback of BitTorrent, though people do not take it seriously, is that it’s much more prone to get you caught by the feds. If you’re using BitTorrent to download illegal content (and I in no way encourage anyone to do that), you’re far more likely to get caught than if you’re doing the same via RapidShare. BitTorrent uses a different port for its activities than your regular HTTP port and is much easier to trace. Of course, it’s (thankfully) not a serious issue in India yet, but it’s still something you should bear in mind.

Finally, the elitism! This is the worst part of BitTorrent. I’ve sorta already covered it under the private trackers and seeding requirement topics above, but it’s such an important facet of my dislike for BitTorrent that it deserves an honourable all its own. If you’ve spent time and effort trying to get into the private tracker game, you know what the attitude of the people who’re already onboard the bandwagon is like. BitTorrent is like the real world and there’s a giant divide between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots,’ and until you spend years trying to get onto private trackers and figure out ways to maintain good ratios and make a few friends, everyone will keep treating you like the newbie you are and you’ll feel disrespected and alone. I hate how self-important the “in people†consider themselves in the BitTorrent world (and this comes from someone who has ratios of 1.69TB up: 1.56TB down on respected BitTorrent sites like TorrentLeech and HD-Bits, so I’ve been there and know what I’m talking about).

[A note about “HTTPâ€: When I say “HTTPâ€, I’m including all websites that form a part of it, like RapidShare, Megashares, MegaUpload, NetLoad, etc. and all the forums that help you find stuff to download from these websites.]

HTTP | Disadvantage (yes, singular): It ain’t free, at least if you plan to download files larger than 200MB or more than one file at once. If you aren’t willing to spend at least about Rs. 300 per month, this method is not for you.

HTTP | Advantages: Freedom. Freedom from the requirement of having to upload anything, freedom from having to beg for invites, freedom from being treated like shit, freedom from the slow speeds of public trackers—complete freedom to download stuff.

Here’s how it works: If you’re a casual downloader who generally only downloads files that are smaller than 2GB at a time, all you need to do is get yourself a RapidShare account. Then you need to sign up for a free account on a forum like Warez-BB and just use the search field to find whatever you want. If it’s not on RapidShare, there’s a good chance it doesn’t exist. Once you find what you’re looking for (which is a matter of seconds), just drag the bunch of links to the Speed Download icon (the program costs $25 as well) in your Dock to start downloading. (Windows users can use a download accelerator of their own choosing.) And that’s it. The downloads always utilise the full speed of your connection (specially if you queue more than a single file at once), support resuming if your Internet connection drops midway, and are simply painless. No uploads or invites required—nothing. All you need is a RapidShare account, which you can even get for Rs. 200 per month if you know where to look.

If you’re a high definition addict, like me, you’ll also need a Megashares account to go along with your RapidShare account, which will set you back by another Rs. 250 per month. After you have it, it’s just so simple to download high definition content from the web, you’ll wonder why you ever spent your precious time and effort trying to get in on sites like HD-Bits. There are other sites like MegaUpload and NetLoad but, frankly, if you have RapidShare and Megashares, that’s all you’ll ever need.

So, yeah, for the best experience, you might have to shell out up to Rs. 500 per month, but is that really so much for what you’re getting? I, for one, can gladly pay that much for the amount of hassle it frees me from and time it saves me. And that’s not taking into account your dignity, which you pretty much give up when you choose to go the BitTorrent route. And how much are five hundred bucks, really? They’re the equivalent of one large pizza from Pizza Hut. For me, it’s completely worth it.

I’ve been in the downloading game for several years now and switched to HTTP after so many years of trying to get BitTorrent to work for me instead of against. I’m genuinely grateful to the person who pointed me to HTTP and am hopeful that my article will enlighten some other enthusiastic downloaders out there as well. In India, we always value money over everything else. But quality comes at a price, my friends, and I urge you to try spending some dough to get decent quality, not just in this particular field but in all aspects of life. Trust me, your life will be better for it.

Feel free to chime in with your suggestions.
[P.S.: If you just absolutely cannot afford to pay Rs. 300 per month for the luxury of downloading stuff from the Internet, I understand your stance in favour of BitTorrent. This article is for people who can but don’t because either they don’t know what’s out there or do but are apprehensive about throwing in the cash. And although I’m thoroughly convinced about my choices and am sure it’s the right one for at least 80% of the people seriously interested in downloading, different people have different situations and requirements to contend with and you’re free to disagree with me (as long as you do it respectfully).]

Update: I’ve re-appended a great chunk of the article that was cut off when it was edited by ‘Dark Star’, assuming that it was a mistake on his part. I’ve let the colour stay at the forum default but changed the font back to the one I know if far more readable for lengthy articles. If the moderators want to edit something out, please feel free to do so but do tell me the reason behind it so that I know what the reason behind it was and can be assured that it wasn’t done in error. Thanks.

 

[stalker]

I have something to add here. Please change your font/fontcolor to the regular stuff. cant read anything with nocturnal skin.

 

[blr_p]

Looks fine with desaturate

..If you’re a high definition addict, like me..

Thats the major problem right there

Would it kill you to do without HD ? Afterall its only the movie you want to watch right.

Being in India this can be a losing proposition and the cause for much grief & gnashing of teeth.

How many times do you watch a movie ?

If you're like most its just the one time like with books.

All that hassle & effort to get what, 5-10 movies a month in an place that has yet to experience HD

 

[NarwhalBacon]

Hmmm.. Interesting article. Your points regarding speed and ratio I don't agree with though. I leave my download on for the night and do not surf and download at the same time. So my bittorrent speed is comparable to that of downloading a file directly (what you refer to as HTTP). Also, files that get stuck at 94% and all are generally fake files uploaded by anti-piracy agencies to track piracy. Which is the reason we have torrent specific search engines with user comments.

Ratio; well, if you're a genuine community spirit type of person, you'll find a way to improve/maintain your ratio. Furthermore, many of the torrent clients have options to prioritize uploads when there are no downloads and to stop uploading file after a certain time/ratio has been reached, all helping in maintaining your ratio on all files even on a measly 256 kbps connection.

To your point about elitism; well that will exist wherever you go. Any person who considers himself superior to someone else (whether s/he actually is superior or not is another debate altogether) in any way will be sure to rub in that person's face at least once, if not regularly. It's a fact of life, survival of the fittest, call it what you want.

I'm not condoning the behaviour, just pointing out that if you gather a large enough group; and the torrent community is huge; the ****heads will far outweigh the sane people in both number and aggresiveness. But I can't comment from personal experience since I haven't had to "beg" for invites; but only because I' don't want to be, nor am I a part of, any private trackers/forums.

I've been using bittorrent for the past few years and once I got past the initial hiccups, I felt like a kid in a candy shop.

 

[chic_magnet]

^^ Why not go with Quality if it atall your going to watch it once only?? Might as well watch in the best quality available! thats the lure of HD. Heck my friends with their tiny 15 inch laptop screen only download HD just so that can get that extra clarity!!!

I do in many ways agree with aryayush

I used to download on dial-up first. 9gb a month with 24x7 downloading on bit tornado/limewire. then moved on to azureus, still bit torrent and still the headache of maintaining a ratio especially if you are in a private tracker. And on my 'limited in the daytime' account I rather just spend the valuable time at night downloading than just uploading.

So i choose to pay and download. Yes, sounds funny but the fact is that the paid downloads never let me down.

About finding Old stuff on bit torrent vs. HTTP I think bit torrent wins here simply because of its massive reach. Though it may not be the case but then all the old stuff I have needed, have always found both on paid downloads and on bit torrent networks.

Off topic: Going into the future, I guess, we shall see content being uploaded for free on bit torrent while paid downloads (HTTP) will be utilised for premium content.

 

[blr_p]

^^ Why not go with Quality if it atall your going to watch it once only?? Might as well watch in the best quality available! thats the lure of HD. Heck my friends with their tiny 15 inch laptop screen only download HD just so that can get that extra clarity!!!

Ahh, well thats the other thing, watching on your 15inch laptop is a no no. You want to hook up your bigger TV.

What you use to watch sub-dvd quality from your provider and no complaints there right

My point is simple why spend for one movie when you can get more in the same time ?

I can understand ppl with normal HD transmission on TV not wanting less but what's your excuse ?

I have this idea (maybe hope is a better word) that when HD comes of age in this country, DL speeds will have increased to the point where its no longer an issue

 

[NarwhalBacon]

I have this idea (maybe hope is a better word) that when HD comes of age in this country, DL speeds will have increased to the point where its no longer an issue

Amen to that! :cheers:

 

[aryayush]

Thats the major problem right there

Would it kill you to do without HD ?

You know what, it just might.

Afterall its only the movie you want to watch right.

Being in India this can be a losing proposition and the cause for much grief & gnashing of teeth.

How many times do you watch a movie ?

If you're like most its just the one time like with books.

All that hassle & effort to get what, 5-10 movies a month in an place that has yet to experience HD

Yes, and it’s worth it. Oh, it’s so worth it! I’m so addicted to high definition that most of my stuff is in 1080p. I’m even buying a 30-inch display and a nice Sony Sound Bar (in addition to my Sennheiser wireless headphones) so that I can get even more out of my high definition files.

You can never convince an audiophile or a high definition addict to make do with poorer quality of audio and video respectively. Never. Yes, we know the file sizes are much larger but for us the difference in quality is worth it. I always watch the IMAX version of a movie whenever I get the opportunity, even if the cost is higher. While I was in San Francisco, I went and saw The Dark Knight in the largest IMAX theatre in the world, even though I’d already seen the movie several times before.

The lure of high definition is just too much to ignore, man.

Hmmm.. Interesting article. Your points regarding speed and ratio I don't agree with though. I leave my download on for the night and do not surf and download at the same time. So my bittorrent speed is comparable to that of downloading a file directly (what you refer to as HTTP). Also, files that get stuck at 94% and all are generally fake files uploaded by anti-piracy agencies to track piracy. Which is the reason we have torrent specific search engines with user comments.

One of the main reasons I mentioned my experience several times in that article was to make sure people didn’t make assumptions like this one. Of course I know a fake torrent when I see it. I only ever fell for a fake torrent once in my life. What I’m talking about is when there are only a couple of seeders on a file and you start downloading it because you really want it, somehow manage to get to over 90% and then those guy drop off the face of the Earth, leaving you high and dry. And that does happen in public trackers.

Ratio; well, if you're a genuine community spirit type of person, you'll find a way to improve/maintain your ratio. Furthermore, many of the torrent clients have options to prioritize uploads when there are no downloads and to stop uploading file after a certain time/ratio has been reached, all helping in maintaining your ratio on all files even on a measly 256 kbps connection.

My point is: why? Why go to those lengths if you can afford to pay Rs. 300 per month? You can service your car yourself for most of the stuff that generally goes wrong with it but, besides changing the tyre, do you ever do any of it yourself? Over 80% of car owners don’t. We send it to the service center. Why? Because we have much better uses for our time. Similarly, I have much better uses for my time than trying to keep up with the BitTorrent ecosystem. No matter how good you are at maintaining ratios, you can’t tell me it isn’t a waste of time and effort. I’ve been there and I know what it’s like. It’s just so much easier to pay a little and take out all the hassle out of downloading.

To your point about elitism; well that will exist wherever you go. Any person who considers himself superior to someone else (whether s/he actually is superior or not is another debate altogether) in any way will be sure to rub in that person's face at least once, if not regularly. It's a fact of life, survival of the fittest, call it what you want.

I'm not condoning the behaviour, just pointing out that if you gather a large enough group; and the torrent community is huge; the ****heads will far outweigh the sane people in both number and aggresiveness.

Yes, and in the BitTorrent world, you have to deal with such people if you want to be on private trackers. It’s not just about being a bigheaded buffoon either. Even if you are a humble person by nature, you cannot afford to give out invites to everyone who politely requests for it, can you? In the world of direct downloads, all you have is pay a small monthly fee and then either use Google to find links or sign up for free on an online forum. You don’t need to depend on or deal with people at all, at least not in the sense that you have to on BitTorrent.

But I can't comment from personal experience since I haven't had to "beg" for invites; but only because I' don't want to be, nor am I a part of, any private trackers/forums.

I've been using bittorrent for the past few years and once I got past the initial hiccups, I felt like a kid in a candy shop.

This is the part that genuinely surprises me. Are you telling me that you use only public trackers and get everything you want at decent speeds and are satisfied with the experience? If yes, man, you must have stumbled upon a secret formula, because I’ve tried to do that so many times and have put in genuine efforts into getting it to work but it simply hasn’t for me.

 

[aryayush]

What you use to watch sub-dvd quality from your provider and no complaints there right

My point is simple why spend for one movie when you can get more in the same time ?

I can understand ppl with normal HD transmission on TV not wanting less but what's your excuse ?

That I never watch Indian television. At all. There are two reasons:

1. Have you seen an Indian television show lately? Point me to one actor who knows what the meaning of the word “acting†is. Indian television is full of crap like Rakhi Sawant Ka Swayamvar. It’s the biggest collection of bullshit the world has ever seen; and

2. The quality is sub par. I cannot tolerate watching anything below 720p. I just cannot. I even download podcasts in high definition from iTunes.

So, yeah, I have a pretty solid “excuse.â€

 

[blr_p]

While I was in San Francisco, I went and saw...

Bingo, you've seen HD abroad and are now hooked to it.

Thats it, you are not in a very good place to get your fix.

But then again anything can be had if you pony up the green.

Can't complain about the price of petrol in a ferrari can you

..and i'm referring to your thread title here

 

[blr_p]

You know what, it just might.

Yes, and it’s worth it. Oh, it’s so worth it! I’m so addicted to high definition that most of my stuff is in 1080p. I’m even buying a 30-inch display and a nice Sony Sound Bar (in addition to my Sennheiser wireless headphones) so that I can get even more out of my high definition files.

You can never convince an audiophile or a high definition addict to make do with poorer quality of audio and video respectively. Never. Yes, we know the file sizes are much larger but for us the difference in quality is worth it. I always watch the IMAX version of a movie whenever I get the opportunity, even if the cost is higher. While I was in San Francisco, I went and saw The Dark Knight in the largest IMAX theatre in the world, even though I’d already seen the movie several times before.

The lure of high definition is just too much to ignore, man.

Oh i agree, and i'm trying my level best NOT to become one hyeah:

Instead of the ride, i want the destination.

How many cool places are you acquainted with ?

..did it matter if you always travelled first class.

 

[aryayush]

Oh, trust me, if I had the kind of dough one requires to always fly first class (or even just do so once in a while), I would splurge without hesitation. Every part of the journey is important to me, including the destination as well as the ride.

I guess it’s just a matter of differing philosophies at play here.

But then again anything can be had if you pony up the green.

Can't complain about the price of petrol in a ferrari can you

..and i'm referring to your thread title here

Well, like I said, three hundred bucks isn’t a lot of money. The discussion is not about whether you should only download high definition files or not. Heck, I actually advise you to stay away from it because it forever condemns you to not being able to enjoy a standard definition rented DVD (or, God forbid, VCD) with your friends. The discussion is about why direct downloads are preferable over the BitTorrent network. I’m trying to spread awareness about just how much that little expenditure gets you in the way of comfort and speed (i.e. in terms of time saved).

Bingo, you've seen HD abroad and are now hooked to it.

Thats it, you are not in a very good place to get your fix.

I’ve been addicted to high definition for a long time now, since long before I’d ever stepped foot outside India.

 

[varkey]

I agree with you, once you start watching HD movies you wont feel like going back to normal SD movies. Its definitely worth the extra file size!!

 

[greenhorn]

Well, like I said, three hundred bucks isn’t a lot of money.

trust me , it is - Until i got a job, that was the amount my dad was willing to pay for internet, for a month.

and i dont think I'll ever switch to full HD. the day I feel like wanting to do that , I'd probably get myself a 720p projector

 

[nucleuskore]

Torrents are not too bad if you know where to look. Yes private trackers can be a pain, but what about sites like btjunkie - the largest bittorrent search engine

-Torrents search results listed health wise

-Community feedback available

Upstream bandwidth is a big issue with BSNL users as they provide ADSL. If you are a SDSL user (AirTel) then it's not so much of a problem. As one of the posters mentioned above, leave it for download overnight. The only thing you'll have to worry about are policies like FUP on AirTel, as you will be wasting precious bandwidth upstream. Imagine if you have to seed 1:1 as some private trackers demand !

 

[phoenix844884]

First things first. In my opinion, this article has been posted out of a deep set bias and an equally rough experience, if I may be allowed to say that. (Oops, I just did.hyeah

My point is: why? Why go to those lengths if you can afford to pay Rs. 300 per month? You can service your car yourself for most of the stuff that generally goes wrong with it but, besides changing the tyre, do you ever do any of it yourself? Over 80% of car owners don’t. We send it to the service center. Why? Because we have much better uses for our time. Similarly, I have much better uses for my time than trying to keep up with the BitTorrent ecosystem. No matter how good you are at maintaining ratios, you can’t tell me it isn’t a waste of time and effort. I’ve been there and I know what it’s like. It’s just so much easier to pay a little and take out all the hassle out of downloading.

~ Why not go to those lengths? I can see that you have never ever had that warm and fuzzy feeling inside, when you have successfully uploaded equal amounts of what you have downloaded.

~ How does a person, who has, and I quote you, 1.6 TB uploaded on a tracker, still be so bitter about BitTorrent? There has to be a bigger explanation for this.

~As for paying a small amount, which of course is subjective, I use BitTorrents AND I have a premium Rapidshare account. Payed for in full, through a legitimate reseller.

~ I can safely say that I am as experienced as you in the downloading world. Even I have progressively moved up from dial-up to now having my own premium accounts. But for me, it has been a learning experience. And I do not have any resentment towards any of the means I used to get to this point.

~ You are trying to impose your ideas upon this community, rather than post any kind of informative article. Your idea of passing your time maybe watching an IMAX movie, but for a lot of people it may actually be tweaking their cars and servicing it themselves.

~ It may have been ordeal for you, but maintaining a good, healthy ratio on a tracker is a thing of pride for people. How could you not see that?

~ The key to maintaining ratios on any tracker, be it public or private, is being patient. Something that you clearly lack, otherwise this article would not have been posted in the first place.

~ For almost full 2 years that i have been torrenting, I have always been on a 256kbps connection. I am now a power user on most of my trackers. You ask how did that come about? Through lots of patience and the will to share what I have taken from the community.

~ If it is just about buying your downloading rights, then why not donate to a private tracker? That way you receive tons of benefits, and of course no ratio limits. Its just about throwing your money into whatever is important to you.

Yes, and in the BitTorrent world, you have to deal with such people if you want to be on private trackers. It’s not just about being a bigheaded buffoon either. Even if you are a humble person by nature, you cannot afford to give out invites to everyone who politely requests for it, can you? In the world of direct downloads, all you have is pay a small monthly fee and then either use Google to find links or sign up for free on an online forum. You don’t need to depend on or deal with people at all, at least not in the sense that you have to on BitTorrent.

~ Like someone above me said, you will encounter a**holes everywhere. But what happened to your integrity, if not your dignity? I mean, come on! You have the choice of either interacting with such people or not. If you ever come across such a person, turn your back to him/her. They can't do shit to you that way.

~ If I may repeat my point, You DO NOT HAVE to interact with any of the afore-mentioned idiots. I don't think in all my BitTorrenting life I have ever interacted with any of the uploaders or leechers, unless in a very friendly way to talk to them about various uploads. All the people I have met online, related to BitTorrent have been polite to say the least, and very very helpful in solving any problems that I faced.

~ Having said that, I wonder what happened to you, so as to lead to so much antipathy towards the people in the BitTorrent world? Must have been something you said or did, otherwise no one would have even bothered you by saying anything.

~ What is the harm in asking for a ratio proof before handing out an invite? You may be safe, but there are many unscrupulous elements out there who won't respect their and their inviter's accounts and cause all sorts of hell for everyone. You ask politely for an invite, they ask you politely for a ratio proof, you politely show it to them, and they politely send you an invite. That is how it works. It takes a lot of "acting the goat" for someone to deny you the invite if you have shown a decent ratio proof. Of course, that ratio proof is highly dependent on your patience which will in turn lead you to have good ratios. So in essence, we are back to square one with your case.

This is the part that genuinely surprises me. Are you telling me that you use only public trackers and get everything you want at decent speeds and are satisfied with the experience? If yes, man, you must have stumbled upon a secret formula, because I’ve tried to do that so many times and have put in genuine efforts into getting it to work but it simply hasn’t for me.

~ Yes public trackers can be very useful when you have the will, and the right settings to go about it.

~ On the other hand, I can safely assume that most of us started off torrenting from public trackers. If that isn't an experience in itself, then what is? The long waiting times, the crawling speeds, the higher uploads than downloads, the works! That in itself should be the biggest motivation to move up to better and private trackers.

~ I still revert to public trackers to check upon an upload in a private tracker, to see whether the public tracker has a better chance of giving me that file. And you know what? Some times that has paid off. I have had better speeds on a file from a public tracker than on a private one on the same file. (Believe it or not! )

There are pros and cons to everything in life. What you have done with this article is, my friend, compared Apples to Oranges. Both are wonderful in their own right, and either can be somebody's poison.

I did not mean to attack you in any way. But your biased article has led me to write this response, which may seem biased towards all that you stand against! But believe me, it is not how it seems.

I use both means to download, torrents as well as HTTP, and all I can say is, I have enjoyed the experience.

I hope you do too.

 

[aryayush]

1. I’ve never had any “bad†experience on BitTorrent. I’ve steered clear of the elitist people and I’ve minded my own business.

2. I have no bias against BitTorrent, as difficult as it may be for you to believe.

The point of my article was not to say that BitTorrent is crappy and the only way to go about downloading stuff is via direct downloads. The point was to make people aware of the fact that direct downloads exist. I think I can safely say that both you and I, like perhaps hundreds of other people on this forum, have enough experience with both kinds of downloads to enable us to make our judgements for ourselves. Like you, I cherish the knowledge I’ve gained while trying to craft a space for myself in the BitTorrent world.

I think you missed the point of this article—it’s not for you. It’s for the thousands of people I see on a daily basis who are practically begging for invites (I know it sounds harsh but that’s the only word that describes it appropriately) and who have no idea that a different solution exists, one that neither requires them to rely on other people to get started nor has an initial learning (or establishing) curve.

After several years of using BitTorrent and now switching to direct downloads (my TorrentLeech account is still alive and well and I do use it in a pinch), I personally think that the latter is simply much better. In the entire essay above (which I’ve read entirely and think is particularly well written), I didn’t find a single point that listed an advantage of BitTorrent. And I personally found a few of your defensive points weak as well. You say BitTorrent requires patience; well, I don’t have patience and that shouldn’t be a prerequisite.

As for donating money to increase your ratio, for one thing, the donation tiers are generally much higher than what a monthly RapidShare subscription costs; for another, there are many private trackers that either do not accept donations or do but don’t allow you to “buy†upload in return. If paying your way through was a feasible option, I would never have gone searching for alternatives in the first place.

I used to be a huge BitTorrent advocate until very recently. And I still recommend it and try to help people find their roots on it if they aren’t willing to pay for a RapidShare subscription. But, at the same time, I do want to inform people that it is not the only option. And, at least in my opinion, is not the best one either.

You said my article wasn’t informative. I agree. An alphabet book may not be informative for an English scholar but it sure is for the kid in pre-school who’s just starting out. The usefulness of anything depends on where you stand in relation to it. You just happen to have outgrown the usefulness of my essay.

 

[apextwin146]

AryaAyush i though u got paid as a writer? Its criminal if someone pays for the kind of crap you write dude ...
The whole article is so full of sh!t that i dont even knw where to start dissin u ..
You are what is known as a classic example of a leecher ... The kind of person whose only goal is to download his stuff and nothing else .. BT is a file sharing protocol not a file leeching protocol and thats y it is free unlike RS and Newsgroup ..
How many times have u been active in any forum for FS or in IRC of any tracker?
Have you ever uploaded even one single file on the internet? Rippped music on your own?
Do u think ppl who do it are just a bunch of jobless spastics? Its called sharing for a reason man ..
If you trully share on the internet then you can get into any private tracker within weeks dude .. I agree their is elitism in BT world but its to a degree .. Like anything else on the internet you need to knw the rite ppl to get into the right places ..
Old files not present on Trackers .. Ok please go and check Hdbits ,ScT ,Exigo and BtMusic ... Files as long as 3 yrs old are present with high speed pipes .. Heck BitMeTv has files on seedbox since 2005 man ..
You can request any file to be uploaded again if you find that the speed on the current upload is low ...
this is so sad that i cant even bother writing a full reply ..
Bty u dont even knw what Usenet is ? Usenet is nothing but a Paid newsgroup reader.. Next time do some research before u comment on these things ..
I will reply in detail on saturday when i am off work ..
Thanks for the laughs will be posting this on FST .. Maybe some folks over their can come and take you to school ..

Oh yeah direct downloads for most part are crappy .. Most of the hosting sites have public registrations and under pressure give out any IP information they have easily while same is not the case with BT .. BT sites are more secure than some Scene FTP servers ... Also since you are the kinda guy who can easily pay out for stuff try donating on trackers so that you get into the Anonymous List which means that your ips wont be tracked and recorded ..

 

[phoenix844884]

1. I’ve never had any “bad†experience on BitTorrent. I’ve steered clear of the elitist people and I’ve minded my own business.

Good for you. But then why say anything about "those" people at all? If it doesn't bother you, then leave it be. In fact, almost everyone wants their own way in life and hence they learn from their own experiences. However hard you may try to convince them or make them listen, they just wont. So let people learn on their own. They will cherish that learning curve just like the way we are enjoying those lessons now. And I personally think we are way better off than we were earlier, right?

2. I have no bias against BitTorrent, as difficult as it may be for you to believe.

Pretty hard to believe actually! But then, everyone is entitled to their opinions.

The point of my article was not to say that BitTorrent is crappy and the only way to go about downloading stuff is via direct downloads. The point was to make people aware of the fact that direct downloads exist.

I think you missed the point of this article—it’s not for you. It’s for the thousands of people I see on a daily basis who are practically begging for invites (I know it sounds harsh but that’s the only word that describes it appropriately) and who have no idea that a different solution exists, one that neither requires them to rely on other people to get started nor has an initial learning (or establishing) curve.

Oh believe me friend, people who actually download voraciously, they already know about the existence of various services. Its just a matter of preference. For some, it may be their life's work to get membership of an elite tracker. Even if there is someone who is just starting out, they will know sooner or later. I can bet their first reaction will be, "I am not paying anything for downloading through Rapidshare!" and "Aah! Torrents! Thats free!". For those people the learning curve has just begun. Let them experience it. And that is just the point of your article. To let them on to some of the "secrets" that we gathered over a long time. Well done!:hap2:

In the entire essay above (which I’ve read entirely and think is particularly well written), I didn’t find a single point that listed an advantage of BitTorrent.

Biggest advantage of bittorrent - content availability and quality. Even you mentioned the availability of rare stuff, albeit at the price of crawling slow speeds.
Like you said in your original post, if its not on Rapidshare, you probably wont find it. True to some extent, but I've actually found more stuff on Bittorrent than on Rapidshare/HTTP. In fact, my reason for initially trying and then getting hooked to bittorrent was the lack of specific content I was looking for on Rapidshare/HTTP. For general content, Rapidshare is fast and efficient, that I agree with.
And that is the point of Bittorrent - Content specific services.

And I personally found a few of your defensive points weak as well.

Which ones? I would love to debate some more on them!

You say BitTorrent requires patience; well, I don’t have patience and that shouldn’t be a prerequisite.

Bittorrent requires patience and Rapidshare requires money. I can safely say that a lot people will choose patience over money. Rather than pay anything at all, people would rather sit around and wait all day. Anyway the point of waiting versus getting the file quickly is moot, due to our "superior" Indian Broadband! LOL:bleh: Those speeds will make you wait whether you are on rapidshare or bittorrent.

As for donating money to increase your ratio, for one thing, the donation tiers are generally much higher than what a monthly RapidShare subscription costs; for another, there are many private trackers that either do not accept donations or do but don’t allow you to “buy†upload in return.

Agreed. Those tiers have been developed over a long period of time, and they are not going to be shaken up in one day. But that is not our motive. Then again, donate $10-$20 to "a" tracker and get V.I.P. privileges for a month (That is approximately Rs. 500/- to Rs. 1000/-). That includes unlimited downloading without any ratio hassles and just a small requisite seeding time.
Pay Rapidshare Rs. 600/- for a months account, without any download traffic. Then pay another Rs. 800/- for 100GB traffic. How does that work out in your books?
You have to remember that not many people are willing to pay up! Of course, for many people paying is not an option at all! What about the students? How do they manage it?

If paying your way through was a feasible option, I would never have gone searching for alternatives in the first place.

But you did! You did pay for a feasible option! hyeah:

I used to be a huge BitTorrent advocate until very recently. And I still recommend it and try to help people find their roots on it if they aren’t willing to pay for a RapidShare subscription. But, at the same time, I do want to inform people that it is not the only option. And, at least in my opinion, is not the best one either.

Agreed on all accounts.:hap2:

You said my article wasn’t informative. I agree. An alphabet book may not be informative for an English scholar but it sure is for the kid in pre-school who’s just starting out. The usefulness of anything depends on where you stand in relation to it. You just happen to have outgrown the usefulness of my essay.

We are out of that dilemma. But your article will likely scare off someone who is thinking about bittorrents. Comments about unfriendly options for downloading and even more hostile elitists on those networks will only serve to shoo away people who cannot pay up for premium services like Rapidshare. They of course do not have to pay anything for torrents, for as long as they like. They can donate only if they want to. God knows I have never donated to any private tracker and yet I can proudly say that I am a V.I.P. member at a few trackers.

 

[greenhorn]

dude reminds me of the kids in school who wouldnt share

"My dad paid for it, and its mine, I dont want to give it to anyone :no:"