I’m a pretty heavy torrent user, running a media server complete with sonarr/radarr for automatic downloads. I download a lot, and have multiple TBs of upload on various private trackers. I’ve been torrenting forever, but I’ve always wondered about usenet. Over and over on this, and other, forums I see people saying that usenet is way better - but why?

I understand what it is overall, but what makes it better than traditional torrenting? In my mind, it’s always just seemed like a different means to the same end. I pay for a VPN and torrent for “free”, or I pay for usenet access and download directly from there. As someone who’s “snobby” around the quality of the stuff I torrent, does usenet provide an advantage there?

Usenet fans, I’d love to hear what makes you love it! I’m always open to trying new things, and if It really is better I’d love to know why! (Plus, maybe what providers/tools etc you recommend).

  • duncesplayedEnglish
    5·
    1 year ago

    You’re paying them money, so it’s in their best interest to keep hosting.

    The uploader uploads their stuff to their own Usenet provider (whom they’re probably paying for). Usenet servers are frequently mirroring/syncing with each other. So very quickly after the uploader uploads, you will find their post on your Usenet provider, and you download directly from them.

    If a Usenet provider someday decided not to host any more, they would be out of business (because who would use them), and so you’d switch to a different Usenet provider, where you’d find exactly the same stuff mirrored.

    Usenet providers compete/distinguish themselves mostly based on:

    • Cost (duh)
    • Speed (duh)
    • Retention. This means “how long is a post kept on our servers after it’s been uploaded”. Some cheaper providers might have only 30 day retention while some might have 180 day retention, etc. If you’re only interested in recent posts/releases, it might not matter as much to you.
    • Tooling. Most Usenet providers have a web-based interface, with varying levels of service. Can you search for a specific filename, do different types of filtering, etc. Many providers will automatically package together files that have been split up, so you only have one download, and don’t have to worry about par files and unrar and all that. Some will give you thumbnail previews, or even short video previews, of videos before you download, so you can check quality and language (important!! Some people on Usenet don’t even bother to label the fact that they’re uploading, say, a Spanish language version of something)
    • Obscure communities. Many people do still use Usenet for discussion, its original purpose. If that’s you, you’re going to want to check that the provider you choose is going to have alt.fan.obscure.howdy-doody-berenstain-bears-crossover-fanfic.bonk.bonk.bonk or whatever weird interest you and 3 other people in the world have. You might think since the discussion communities are so low-bandwidth every provider would just carry everything, but you might be surprised.
    • theUnlikely@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      3·
      1 year ago

      What provider has such low retention? I’ve never seen such a thing. The lowest I can find is 600 days, with most being between 2000 and 5000.

      Also some corrections, the provider doesn’t package anything together. The indexers do that in the form of an nzb file. Unraring is still necessary, but most download clients will do that for you.

        • theUnlikely@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          2·
          1 year ago

          Not really, especially when you use the 5000+ ones since that is nearing 14 years. Also, people re-upload old stuff all the time. If you want, you can give me some examples of what you think might not be available and I’ll let you know if it’s there.