How many of you use Usenet VS torrents (sopuli.xyz)

submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by overload@sopuli.xyz to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com

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Just wondering what a rough split is of people using either Usenet, torrents, or both?

I've only just discovered Usenet and while it is paid, it is very cheap and much more convenient than torrents.

Using torrents as well with the *arr suite set up for my various Linux ISOs.

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[-] viking@infosec.pub 8 points 5 months ago

I'm mostly downloading fairly recently released stuff, so there's no shortage of torrents on public trackers.

I also don't want any payment details associated with anything not explicitly legal, so that'd be a further deterrent from Usenet. Sure, I could use crypto, but even that links me to a wallet that might someday be traced back to me, so I'll pass.

[-] Blizzard@lemmy.zip 5 points 5 months ago

Wait, you have to pay for using Usenet?

[-] jaykay@lemmy.zip 7 points 5 months ago

Well since someone has to host the data, someone needs to pay for it :P

[-] GasMaskedLunatic@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

It's funny you put it that way, because torrents are based fundamentally on the idea of freely hosting the data so nobody has to pay to access it.

[-] Chewy7324@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Torrents are based on the idea that everyone using them pays for it with their bandwidth and hardware cost. Except for those leechers who don't share.

I'm paying more for my seedbox than for my usenet subscription. If I used my own hardware I'd pay with stress on my hardware, e.g. the disks aging and failing earlier because of seeding. The power consumption is also not negligeble, altough the server is also used for other purposes.

With private trackers this idea of an equal exchange is more obvious because of ratio requirements.

Edit: I'd say it's similar to open source in that no single individual has to pay for it, but someone does have to, for it to exist. Most often with their (valuable) time and knowledge. If no one helps out and does their part (through money or time+knowledge), a project won't survive for long. Same is true for torrents.