It was so easy when I was growing up. I would just type my search into LimeWire and if it turned out to be weird porn I would delete it. Then we had The Pirate Bay, and I could go through reviews to see whether something was a virus or not. Now all public sites I am aware of are riddled with viruses, and I am warned that attempting to download any of them will result in me receiving threatening letters from copyrights holders in the post.
Here is what I have discovered today, trying to pirate things again:
The safest thing you can do is direct download from file share websites, but nobody says where these websites are.
If you want to torrent files, you need to subscribe to an exclusive private tracker. To get access to a private tracker, you need to get lucky, or you need to go through a painstaking process of levelling up over months and months of seeding torrents from semi-private trackers until you get to an actual good one that may or may not have the content you are looking for.
If you don’t want to do this, you need to pay for a UseNet provider, then you need to register for a similarly exclusive UseNet index service, probably paid as well. There is no guarantee you will find what you are looking for on here either, and there is a chance that your download will fail.
Whether you are using torrents or UseNet, you need a service to help you find the content in the first place, for example Sonarr, Radarr or Lidarr. Something called Jackett also fits into this somehow and apparently links to whatever indexes you are using.
If you are torrenting, you then need a torrent client such as qBitTorrent to actually get the files.
If you are using UseNet, you need a UseNet downloader such as jdownloader.
Alternatively, for either option you can pay for a Debrid service such as Real-Debrid or Premiumize to download the files for you, if you send them the links. Besides protecting your privacy and your bandwidth, these services are also great for bypassing the limits on the elusive direct download sites nobody can tell me any more about.
I don’t really think of myself as a stupid person but this shit is so confusing. It is harder than paying for drugs on the dark web with illegal crypto currency. Am I nearly there? Is this everything? If I pay for a UseNet provider and somehow register for a UseNet index, is it as simple as connecting the two together to something such as Sonarr to find the content and jdownloader to get it?
I never said they’re exclusive; I use both in my workflow. The comment to which I replied made it seem like private trackers were the end-all though, which I took issue with.
I also think your upsides are a bit misleading. I wouldn’t use torrents without a VPN (upfront cash), and the effort to learn how usenet works isn’t any more daunting than the effort needed to get into good private trackers and keep up the ratios (e.g., tracking time/ratio based on tracker, working with hardlinks, etc.).
I moved to usenet, seted up a few good indexers and providers and the experience is 1000x better and easier than trying to get into any kind of private trackers.
You have to fill out an application form to get into a private tracker. Literally just a couple of sentences about your torrent experience, why you want to join, etc. You can copy paste that paragraph and send it to 10 trackers.
i don’t have history either man. Every private tracker I tried applying tl wanted atleast proof of good seed ration from w other private trackers also. Which I don’t have because I never tou hed private trackers before.
And either way I don’t have disk space to keep torrent’s around to build up the ratio. ( I have 100gb free for movies/tv shows ).
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Torrent and Usenet are not exclusive.
Upside of torrent: No upfront cash to use.
No need to research backbones, pre paid accounts etc.
I never said they’re exclusive; I use both in my workflow. The comment to which I replied made it seem like private trackers were the end-all though, which I took issue with.
I also think your upsides are a bit misleading. I wouldn’t use torrents without a VPN (upfront cash), and the effort to learn how usenet works isn’t any more daunting than the effort needed to get into good private trackers and keep up the ratios (e.g., tracking time/ratio based on tracker, working with hardlinks, etc.).
You can torrent effectively free. Never said that you should do it.
Usenet usage is paid from the 1st step.
I moved to usenet, seted up a few good indexers and providers and the experience is 1000x better and easier than trying to get into any kind of private trackers.
You have to fill out an application form to get into a private tracker. Literally just a couple of sentences about your torrent experience, why you want to join, etc. You can copy paste that paragraph and send it to 10 trackers.
What did you write that you were not accepted?
I didn’t bother applying, mostly because I don’t look for contant stream of media, and the fact I would then need to managage my seed ratio.
Not interested in all that, plus I’m very limited on storage, and not can’t upgrade it cause it’s too expensive here either way.
Usenet is just better for my usecase.
It’s not difficult to get into one.
And Seed ratio is only a problem for newbies without history.
Sounds like prejudices, tbo.
i don’t have history either man. Every private tracker I tried applying tl wanted atleast proof of good seed ration from w other private trackers also. Which I don’t have because I never tou hed private trackers before.
And either way I don’t have disk space to keep torrent’s around to build up the ratio. ( I have 100gb free for movies/tv shows ).