Bit Torrent, What it is???

[WannaKnow]

Hey--

Bit Torrent, huh? What is that? OK, maybe you are getting tired of my only asking questions so I will answer this one too. :bawling:

Not that I understand it but I can find a definition to copy & paste here.

What is BitTorrent?

"BitTorrent is a free speech tool.

BitTorrent gives you the same freedom to publish previously enjoyed by only a select few with special equipment and lots of money. ("Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one" -- journalist A.J. Liebling.)

You have something terrific to publish -- a large music or video file, software, a game or anything else that many people would like to have. But the more popular your file becomes, the more you are punished by soaring bandwidth costs. If your file becomes phenomenally successful and a flash crowd of hundreds or thousands try to get it at once, your server simply crashes and no one gets it.

There is a solution to this vicious cycle. BitTorrent, the result of over two years of intensive development, is a simple and free software product that addresses all of these problems.

The key to scaleable and robust distribution is cooperation. With BitTorrent, those who get your file tap into their upload capacity to give the file to others at the same time. Those that provide the most to others get the best treatment in return. ("Give and ye shall receive!")

Cooperative distribution can grow almost without limit, because each new participant brings not only demand, but also supply. Instead of a vicious cycle, popularity creates a virtuous circle. And because each new participant brings new resources to the distribution, you get limitless scalability for a nearly fixed cost.

BitTorrent is not just a concept, but has an easy-to-use implementation capable of swarming downloads across unreliable networks. BitTorrent has been embraced by numerous publishers to distribute to millions of users.

With BitTorrent free speech no longer has a high price"


http://www.bittorrent.com/introduction.html

[WannaKnow]

I think I know a couple who get a special TV show via the internet using this technology.

[SpareOOM]

BitTorrent--file sharing program.
Stress on sharing. :tails:

[NicoMoon]

Actually, we'll probably be using bittorrent technology here as we build our archives of radio broadcasts. It's a great way to make broadcasts available on demand without having to continue to host so many large files.

Torrenting, just like internet broadcasting is still largely the realm of the supergeeks and super desperate. I know about it as a member of the latter group. I learned it so I could access some desperately sought information that isn't available to me otherwise. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!! :rotate:

How it works is that someone somewhere formats a large amount of data into tiny little segments, and puts them somewhere on the internet where others who are using the same software can go and download the tiny bits of data into software that reformats the bits into a whole.

Since only one person is sharing with many, the only way for the system to work is for everyone who downloads to share back at least as much as they took. If they don't the file "dies" and only the selfish few who nabbed it first will have access to it.

Much of what is available for access via bittorrent is illegal material, like movies, television shows, music and software. Naturally it's big with the teenage set, so the many communities that have arisen to discuss, share information and files are largely not the coolest places on the internet for we the civilized and/or non-technical. But there are also some excellent little communities as well, so it's all quite an adventure.

Once we have enough archived broadcast material we'll be doing a lot of posting about bittorrent technology, so stay tuned!!

Ours will all be quite legal, so no worries!!