Bittorent vs. IRC vs. Newsgroups

[jadonx]

Anybody know which has the most content or faster speeds? I've used torrent clients for years, but I've never really messed around with IRC or Newsgroups (such as Giganews). I'm just curious if anybody has done the research and would know how each of these would stack up against the other. Is it really worth paying for a subscription to a site such as Giganews. And if IRC is a good way to go, why does there seem to be so little knowledge as to where to find any content? I'd love to hear some feedback on what everybody is using!

[spamtroll]

It depends on what your looking for. Newsgroups are very useful for files you cant get elsewhere at a higher speed. IRC is only good if you have access to pre channels (and to get the files pre'd in them). Bittorrent is my personal preference, if you have membership to private trackers you can get the best speeds on some of the rarest content.

[imapotato]

Bittorrent is popular because it's so easy to use. The fact that it's popular means there's more information out there about it and a lot of different things are available. Not everything, mind you, but you can track down a large variety of stuff.

[gratex]

newsgroups.

ignore the peasants.

[RedSkywalker]

Newsgroups leave everything else standing in respect of speed, variety and security.

[markupmaster]

W00t!

Torrents ftw!

:P

[myfranco]

newsgoups better than torrent. I think nobody heard about retention.Do i have to wait for someone to upload the file i want?
I used torrent , rapid , dc++ , emule , newsgroups but torrent+rapid is all i need.

[DasFox]

Newsgroups will have faster speeds because you are download directly off of a server, but of course there are times when torrents do nice too.

Check with your ISP, many give free Newsgroup access...

They all have their pros and cons....

[Septimus]

Newsgroups

[fractal]

newsgroups + torrents, imo.

I've used newsgroups for a couple years, used to be the cheap $15/mo whatever, but I just upgraded to Giganews a week ago because I was sick of looking stuff up on newzbin and seeing it over 100 days old ... and I've managed to download 122 gigs in that week.

Try maintaining a ratio with that :P

Torrents are a nice supplement tho, for everything that you want that you are not currently finding on newsgroups. And, torrents give a nice community feeling, if you're into that.

IRC was fun, a few years ago. Nowadays, I'm guessing it's not worth it, unless you're on the inside? Anything there should show up on usenet or torrent sites also anyways.

[djork]

Usenet all the way ..

I myself use BT as well but I primarily only use TT/TR/TB/DB9 and the such music sites because you can't find that much EDM or music for that matter thats not popular on Usenet, while you can request it ..

And I agree with you fractal, downloading movies and stuff IMO is much better on Usenet. I say that because you don't have to worry about ratios, max out your connection, high content, ect.

/ dj

[AlterEcho]

Usenet is the fastest (and giganews has great retention). Just make sure you find a good newsgroup indexing site. I usually see 30mb+ download speeds on fiber.
If you can find a good spider for IRC, this usually helps with finding files. But IRC speeds have never been that great for me.
Torrents are great and if you can get on a private tracker....which is nearly impossible, then a good alternative. I have 5mb (and 16TB of files) dedicated just to uploading and couldn't even get in the door. I just do not have the time to jump a bunch of hoops to find access.
Emule is still pretty good (with KAD) and has really cleaned up their act, lately. I have a 30:1+ ratio so I usually get files pretty fast.
So to sum it up:

Usenet for speed and retention
Torrents for ease of use
Emule for some pretty esoteric files
IRC for just good ole' fashion pron

-=AE=-

[deuxdoom]

IRC + Torrent good!


example > SCC !

[Sonnentier]

IRC, you leech servers / bots of channels where you usually didn't help in any way..

Similarly to hacked FTP, many leechers see the work and ressources of the hackers? as given, but they are usually earned hard.

With Usenet, you pay and then you may leech, everything is alright there.
With Torrents, you will give back by seeding, perhaps even helping out.

With IRC, it's pretty cool, but I'd say there are many leecher groaps and script kiddies :P

[Morer]

I use Torrent+Rapidshare, I've found everything I ever wanted, so I guess I don't need anything else.

[escuoop]

I use Torrent+Rapidshare, I've found everything I ever wanted, so I guess I don't need anything else.


me too