# Recommend to me a BitTorrent client **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 24, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183 "2008-11-24T02:43:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183/21 "2008-11-24T21:39:38Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I see it as follows: Leave ‘up’ the things you’ve downloaded. Until your ratio is over 1 (that means people have downloaded it from you as much as you’ve downloaded it. Yes. It’s handled automatically by the client. At the beginning, you are only downloading from clients that have parts of the file. As the client accumulates more parts of the file, it makes them available to other clients that don’t yet have them. At the end, you have the entire file, and the client is dong nothing but uploading to these other clients. You can then let it run as long as you want. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183/22 "2008-11-24T21:43:12Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Yes. It’s handled automatically by the client. At the beginning, you are only downloading from clients that have parts of the file. As the client accumulates more parts of the file, it makes them available to other clients that don’t yet have them. At the end, you have the entire file, and the client is dong nothing but uploading to these other clients. I understand that. What I’m saying is that when you have **the enitre file** it is common courtesy to leave it up for as least as long as your ‘uploaded’ MB is as much as or more than your ‘downloaded’ MB. uTorrent lets you remove the file once you’ve got it, but the proper thing to do is leave it up. uTorrent also has the option of removing once the ratio reaches a specified percentage. It is automatic, but it is also customizable. You DO have the option of being a pure leecher. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183/23 "2008-11-24T21:45:01Z")
I understand, **Lobsang** ; I was clarifying for **ivan astikov**. Sorry–I should have been clearer. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183/24 "2008-11-24T21:48:10Z")
I switched from Azureus to Bit Comet and have been happy with it. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183/25 "2008-11-24T22:19:16Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I see it as follows: Leave ‘up’ the things you’ve downloaded. Until your ratio is over 1 (that means people have downloaded it from you as much as you’ve downloaded it. > > If everyone just downloaded and switched off when they’d finished the system would break down, or downloads would be extremely slow. > > Most ISPs have a slower up rate than down rate so you have to leave a file ‘seeding’ for far longer than it took for you to download it. So, what would I do initially? Would I upload a movie in my personal collection that I think might be popular, and then choose something to download myself? And then I have to leave it up for however long it took to download, to give others a chance to do likewise? ---
**Author:** ![Aestivalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Aestivalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aestivalis)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183/26 "2008-11-24T22:21:37Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Why does it take so long to d/l? I get that there are various sources for a file, and that at the start downloading is slow because it’s getting a file from one or a few sources and that it speeds up in the middle as more ‘seeds’ are accessed. But why does it slow down near the end? Also, why does it take 24-36 hours do d/l a file on high-speed cable? (I think I have bittorrent.) Have you opened the port(s) on your firewall to allow your Torrent software to talk out to the other seeds/peers? Personally, one of the reasons I switched from BitTornado to uTorrent is because I only needed to define a single port, instead of an entire range. ---
**Author:** ![Aestivalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Aestivalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aestivalis)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183/27 "2008-11-24T22:23:08Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I was pointed towards uTorrent. > > Though the rest of my internet is hijacked when I am downloading/uploading torrents. I am sure this isn’t utorrents fault You can cap your upload/download rate. Look into those settings. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183/28 "2008-11-24T22:38:25Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > So, what would I do initially? Would I upload a movie in my personal collection that I think might be popular, and then choose something to download myself? And then I have to leave it up for however long it took to download, to give others a chance to do likewise? No, that would be illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183/29 "2008-11-24T22:49:30Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > So, what would I do initially? Would I upload a movie in my personal collection that I think might be popular, and then choose something to download myself? And then I have to leave it up for however long it took to download, to give others a chance to do likewise? Only if you have permission from the copyright owner. Your personal movies, music, text, etc, the ones you made yourself, no problem, if you so choose. Items that have been released under one of the [Creative Commons share-and-share-alike licenses](http://creativecommons.org/), no problem. Items whose [copyright owners permit copying](http://magnatune.com/info/whynotevil), no problem. Items in the [public domain](http://www.archive.org/details/prelinger), no problem. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183/30 "2008-11-24T22:57:33Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Though the rest of my internet is hijacked when I am downloading/uploading torrents. I am sure this isn’t utorrents fault You need to configure [Port Forwarding](http://portforward.com/). ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183/31 "2008-11-24T23:02:04Z")
> [@Aestivalis](#): > > You can cap your upload/download rate. Look into those settings. Yeah you need to do this. I only give it a fraction of what I have (1/4 of total download speed, 1/2 or 1/3 of total upload speed) and I don’t notice a thing. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183/32 "2008-11-24T23:19:08Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Only if you have permission from the copyright owner. > > Your personal movies, music, text, etc, the ones you made yourself, no problem, if you so choose. Items that have been released under one of the [Creative Commons share-and-share-alike licenses](http://creativecommons.org/), no problem. Items whose [copyright owners permit copying](http://magnatune.com/info/whynotevil), no problem. Items in the [public domain](http://www.archive.org/details/prelinger), no problem. Oh, I don’t get it then! What are we supposed to be sharing? The people I know who use it, do so to get the latest movies and such. How do you use it legally? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183/33 "2008-11-24T23:24:10Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > You need to configure [Port Forwarding](http://portforward.com/). Trust me I have my port forwarded correctly. I’ve invested a lot of time into this problem. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183/34 "2008-11-24T23:28:22Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Oh, I don’t get it then! What are we supposed to be sharing? The people I know who use it, do so to get the latest movies and such. Then they’re breaking copyright regs. A lot of this BT stuff, and its predecessors, started out as sharing of music without permission. But eventually some musicians tired of the fractiousness of the RIAA labels’ business model–the impediments and the assumption that everyone was the enemy–and started building a better one, as in the example of Magnatune I linked to earlier. Then independent filmmakers and cartoonists and authors started to join in. There is nothing out there that _requires_ anyone to prohibit copying of movies, use region coding on DVDs, use DRM on music files, or anything like that. That Creative Commons site is a good place to start looking. So is your local independent film or music cooperative. Or Google. But as to getting the latest Hollywood blockbuster? I may not be of much help. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183/35 "2008-11-24T23:33:01Z")
The most common usage goes like this. You go to a certain website (or websites). You find a ‘popular’ torrent. You add it to your client. You seed it for the rest of the people who do the same. Because it is ‘popular’ there are a lot of seeders, and you get it quickly. I am making up numbers here, but I think 95 percent of it is illegal (probably more) A large proportion of it is TV shows - stuff that you get ‘free’ anyway. People want them because they either missed them, want to re-watch them, or are not in the country that airs them. Recording TV shows onto VHS has always been illegal too. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183/36 "2008-11-24T23:38:34Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Recording TV shows onto VHS has always been illegal too. Where? In the US, at least, that was specifically legalized by the Betamax decision, wasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183/37 "2008-11-24T23:38:43Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Trust me I have my port forwarded correctly. I’ve invested a lot of time into this problem. Have you tried lowering the rate at which you upload? That’s what fixed the problem for me. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183/38 "2008-11-24T23:44:21Z")
I have my upload rate capped at 20kbs I have an 8meg line but I think the upload max is 256k, which translates to 32kbs. I guess I could lower it. I would just need to seed for longer. Or I could put it back up to unlimited when not downloading. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183/39 "2008-11-24T23:46:43Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Where? In the US, at least, that was specifically legalized by the Betamax decision, wasn’t it? I guess I was just parroting an urban myth for effect. I believe it is illegal to record most things if you intend to show them to a group of people. I was once led to believe it was illegal because you are making a copy of it without their concent. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183/40 "2008-11-24T23:53:58Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I guess I was just parroting an urban myth for effect. I believe it is illegal to record most things if you intend to show them to a group of people. I was once led to believe it was illegal because you are making a copy of it without their concent. Showing something to a group of people can constitute a ‘public performance’, and most home videos are not licensed for that. I suspect that if you’re not showing it in the home, that would be a good indication, but I’m willing to bet that there’s a fuzzy area involving weddings with DJs and other large house parties. The music that is played at the gym I go to is licensed for public performance as well. There’s a little [SOCAN](http://www.socan.ca/) sticker on the door as you go in. I suspect that the gym management compiles a playlist and forwards royalites to the association based on that list. We did a similar thing at the campus radio station at Sheridan. I remember seeing some videos at the Toronto Public Library that _were_ licensed for public performance, and had prominent markings on the case to that effect. (I think they were mostly from the CBC.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-a-bittorrent-client/474183.md?page=3)