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BitTorrent Clients Reviewed
prostoalex writes "PC Magazine is running a review of several popular BitTorrent clients. They review uTorrent, an app that 'packs an outstanding array of features in 107KB, and doesn't even create a folder in your Program Files' and give it 4.5 stars. BitTorrent Client from BitTorrent.com, 'whose clean interface has three basic elements: a large progress bar for each torrent you're working on, a slider that controls your maximum upload rate, and a link to the BitTorrent Search engine', gets 4 stars. BitPump 'features an attractive interface that sacrifices a detailed feature set for BitTorrent tweakers in favor of simplicity and ease of use' and gets 4 stars. Finally, Azureus, 'a favorite with advanced users, who enjoy its plug-in system and huge range of tweakable settings', gets 4.5 stars. An interview with Bram Cohen from BitTorrent is available as well."
Selectively remove unneeded files from an archive? Sweet.
"Made up/misattributed quote that makes me look smart. I am on
Azureus, because my downloads matter. And, it works on a Mac. Plus, it has plug ins such as SafePeer to keep those pesky people away.....
It's either on the beat or off the beat, it's that easy.
I moderate therefore I rule!
--
screen + btdownloadcurses.py is all i need. Fie on your graphical programs. Fie, i say.
filter: +3. Hey, look! all the trolls went away!
Didn't find the article particularly insightful/interesting/unique... certainly doesn't rival the Wiki article on BT client options.
how can they review bittorrent clients for windows, without including BitComet (http://www.bitcomet.com? easily the best bt-client for windows
Does anyone find it annoying that every program gets only 4 or 4.5 stars? What is the point of reviewing 5 different programs if they all get essentially the same score? Azereus is by far the better client, yet it only gets an extra .5 stars for this distinction. Its features and usability are far beyond the others I've tried, and it's open source/java to boot.
This app shows why platform-optimized code will _always_ beat generic XP frameworks (Java/Python). There is no earthly reason a BitTorrent client has to be big and slow. I like Azureus (especially its DHT) but it drags my machine down compared to uTorrent (which you don't even feel is running). If uTorrent supported Azureus' DHT instead of mainline-DHT I know I wouldn't use Azureus at all.
[1.1GHz Pentium M with 512MB RAM, yes I know that's not a lot but I'd still like to be doing other things when my BT client is running.]
Go somewhere random
Its disappointing to see that they managed to review a whole 4 clients.
I wish that they had discovered that there were a few more than that; ABC, BitCommet, BitTornado, etc... Especially since clients like BitCommet and BitTorrent have some features not posesses by the ones covered there.
I know Shareaza isn't the absolute greatest bittorrent client out there... but it seems to work fine for me, and the fact that it's also a Gnutella2 and eDonkey client makes it just too damn good for getting all those 'latest and greatest' BitTorrent things, as well as those hard to find things you only get via other P2P networks.
:)
:P
Plus... if your tracker goes down it looks for alternat Gnutella2 sources... sweet.
Oh... and it's open source... that's good... right?
There are a lot more uses to bittorrent than stealing media. I use bittorrent a lot, I have used it to play around with many distros and am using to download 4 cds of Slackware. I have never used to download anything that isn't free.
Bittorrent lets people without a lot of bandwidth get their data distributed, it just happens that some people want to distribute stuff they don't own.
I really like Azureus, even if I was a little hesitant when I first downloaded it. It's written entirely in Java which I feared would lead to a less efficient and more cumbersome application. However, if you use Windows and want a good client, go with Azureus. It's amazingly configurable and easy to use. The RSS feed plugin and great DHT implementation alone sell the program. The GUI is very well done doesn't feel like your normal Java GUI.
My only complaint is part of my original fear. The program is a little resource heavy when doing anything with the GUI, and sometimes even when it's minimized to the tray. I've also had trouble getting the desktop to refresh when unlocking the computer after it's been locked for anything over a few hours. This only happens when Azureus has been running.
Other than that, amazing program. How can you go wrong with a program that's always in the top 5 (usually #1-2) of the Most Active and Most Downloaded lists at SourceForge?
"What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
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yes, in about 50 milliseconds...
no sir, didn't like it, not one bit.
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The article claims that the official BitTorrent client, written in Python, requires the Java 1.5 runtime.
/dev/random
Seriously, how did this guy ever get a job writing tech columns. His "facts" seem to be closer to misinformation half the time. Geez how PC Magazine has gone downhill over the years.
/dev/random
Yuck.
I use Bitcomet now instead whenever possible. Sure it's not geek-friendly (no linux support), but it offers the same stuff as Azureus (that's file selection, advanced options) at a lot less RAM and CPU usage.
I am dissapointed not to see it reviewed here.
Obligatory Soundbite Catchphrase
Personally, I go for BitsOnWheels. It has a nice informative interface with a really funky 3D view of your torrent download, and it rarely gives me any problems. The only thing I have noticed about it is that it seems to develop a memory leak when downloading a torrent with lots of (as in thousands of) peers (say a Slashdotted torrent). Other than that it works well and looks kind of cool.
Personally, I have had almost no success with the latests releases of the official BitTorrent Client. It always starts the download and seems fine for a few seconds and then just stops receiving any data...
"Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
From the article: "Proof that a little bit of code can go a long way, Torrent packs an outstanding array of features in 107KB, and doesn't even create a folder in your Program Files. Azureus, to be fair, takes up only 151KB; BitTorrent is 184KB; and BitPump is 113KB--none of these clients is particularly bloated." Wow, I didn't know that PC Magazine were so incompetent. Azureus.exe is indeed 151KB, but as they mention, Azureus is written in Java. All Azureus.exe does is launch Azureus.jar, which in its current state is over 6MB in size. Nor did they check memory usage, which on Azureus is roughly 10x that of uTorrent, at least. It's not uncommon to see Azureus sucking 50MB when you're not doing much, and after a few days that can reach 100MB or more. If they really thought that Azureus was only 151KB in size, the mind boggles what they thought was included in the 8MB download package. And they don't even mention having to download and install the 16MB JRE on top of that.
If you are downloading, you arent stealing, you are commiting copyright infringement at the worst ( remember some licenses allow re-distribution, so i wont make a blanket statement )
if you want to *steal* just go to your local store and leave with product with out paying for it. You dont need a 'app' to help you steal.
Would be nice for people to get it right once in a while, instead of continuing to spread confusion.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Once again, using BitTorrent in and of itself is not in the least bit illegal. Of course, neither is using a VCR to tape a television show. However, a huge number of people use BitTorrent to share materials that are copyrighted. The array is vast, from MP3s to first-run movies, and even entire seasons of TV shows zipped up into a single large file. And once again (say it with us), downloading copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright holder is illegal.
Replace BitTorrent with http, ftp or the web and you see how tiresome this kind of comment is. A huge number of people die driving. A huge number of people are murdered with pointy pieces of steel. A large number of people might not give the world's big publishers their money, with or without another internet protocol. The vast majority of musicians get ripped off.
Let me see if I can say it clearly. Sharing with your friends is not dirty. Cooperative systems add value.
People in the non free world just don't get it and covet all the wrong things. The value of source code is much greater than that of a binary file. The value of a live performance is much greater than a recording. A movie is worth about four dollars. What he values is something that's dead, things with greedy owners. The value of the internet is the exchange of free information, not dead stuff.
I've got a closet full of old crap he might consider valuable. I've got CDs, albums and tapes, which were worthless to me until I ripped them and stuck them on an sftp server. I've got shelves of DOS, Win3.1, Win95 and Windoze 98 software, all good for painful installations on obsolete hardware. The actual content made has been moved to free software systems when I was no longer able to access it with non free software. I keep it, some old books and even a working system or two around like museum pieces. The cost of replacement for my non free software is about 1 hour of install and download time, or a $500 trip to CompUSA. Mobility adds value to information and exposes the true value of non free information.
Will I use bt to share music and movies? Sure, if they are free. Those that are free are worth much more than those I can't share.
Do I share my own work? You bet I do.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
I've been a keen BT user for years now and rave on about it to friends when asked where I get some of my stuff from. Inevitably they're interested and go off and try it and I'll even send them a torrent file to get them started. However what happens next is that they complain of slow speeds or no seeds on torrents which I know are flowing well. The reason for this is always the same: port forwarding and not entering their external IP address (for some set-ups). As soon as I say, 'You'll have to edit your modem/router configuration slightly to get it to work' they'll throw their hands up in horror and there ends their great BT experiment. It doesn't help that some wireless systems move the internal IP assignment around via DHCP requiring port 6881 to be re-pointed again. That sort of stuff is simply beyond most regular users and they 'just don't go there'.
So for me, the issue is not clients (I use BitTorrent for OSX very happily as if it mattered) but the way the protocol handles NAT/DHCP routing - surely it could be automatic? If it were BT use would explode and we'll all get faster speeds as a benefit. Anyone know if that could happen one day?
spoonerize "magic trackpad"
http://slyck.com/guides.php
Its one of the only sites I know about that lists and reviews clients for all the major P2P networks.
Guide to the Newsgroups
-- Guide to Grabit
-- Guide to Agent
-- Guide to Xnews
-- Guide to WinRAR
Guide to BitTorrent
Guide to eDonkey2000
Guide to WinMX
Guide to DirectConnect
Guide to Ares
Guide to Gnutella
Guide to SoulSeek
Guide to IRC
Guide to MP2P
In all of the "Guide to" sections, they have a list of clients (Win, Mac, Linux) and they order them by rating. It's the site I send people to when they ask "what client should I use?"
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
If you're really concerned about how much of your resources Azureus is using, change some settings. You probably have too many open files or too large a write/check queue. Options > Files > Performance Options. The write and check queues default to unlimited. Also, you may want to uncheck the box for "Cache downloaded data...".
Will I use bt to share music and movies? Sure, if they are free.
Free as in speech, or free as in beer? If it's the latter, it's copyright infringement - meaning taht, yes, "Sharing with your friends" is, indeed, "dirty."
Those [music and movies] that are free are worth much more than those I can't share.
Of course they are. That doesn't make sharing them legal, nor right. If they're "too expensive", don't buy them and let the free market do it's work.
A jumbo jet is also more valuable than a ticket to ride on one. It's just that it's harder to "infringe" the jet than it is a copyright.
DATABASE WOW WOW
If I can't share it with my friends, it's not free.
If it's the latter, it's copyright infringement - meaning taht, yes, "Sharing with your friends" is, indeed, "dirty."
You asking me not to share with my friends is the dirty part and a good enough reason to avoid your work. A library is not dirty. A few copies are not a republication. The end of physical media is going to be difficult for people who think they own ideas because they put them on dead trees. Copyright has gone far beyond it's original intention and purpose of promoting the sciences and useful arts. People who insist that sharing is dirty should be shunned.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
I hear that this is a good place to check as well as here.
'Yes, firefox is indeed greater than women. Can women block pops up for you? No. Can Firefox show you naked women? Yes.'
Hrm...troll indeed? Alright, I'll bite. I'm aware of BitTorrent's excellent ability to copy information, but I'd never heard of a case where someone used it to steal something. How would you go about that?
Bear in mind-stealing involves taking away from or depriving(requirement 1) the rightful owner of a possession, of that possession(requirement 2) without that person's consent(requirement 3).
Even if we presume true (and many do not) the tenuous arguments that the person whose file the computer resides on is not "really" the rightful owner of the data on it, and doesn't have permission to say what may or may not be done with it, only requirement 2 and 3 are satisfied. Requirement 1 is never met-copying something doesn't involve taking it away.
Now, on the other hand, you might have mistakenly referred to copyright infringement as theft. Many (though not all) uses for Bittorrent do indeed meet its definition. But I'm sure no one around here tries to substitute an incorrect, inflammatory word for the proper term for something, thinking it strengthens their point!
To fight the war on terror, stop being afraid.
Thanks AC, I didn't know that.
r rent_show_less_DHT_peers_in_the_status_bar_than_Bi tComet_Azureus.3F
http://www.utorrent.com/faq.php#Why_does_.C2.B5To
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
Nice. Please call me back when uTorrent will have that feature Azureus has that's called "runs on more than Microsoft's operating system".
Looks like the number of Windows clients is vastly greater than the others. Guess that means that most "pirates" are Windows-users.
Hey RIAA, MPAA, there's a simple solution to your "piracy" problem: Have your pet Congress-creatures outlaw Windows!
If you want your life to be different, live it differently.
D'oh! Let's try that again.
Not really, because those settings depend on:
--Your hardware (disk capacity and speed, amount of RAM, and CPU power)
--Your OS
--What you're downloading (number of files mostly)
Some sweeping generalities and my settings, though:
Uncheck "friendly hash checking" if you have a modern processor.
Keep "max open files..." pretty low. Unless you're downloading a huge direcory of images or something, or have (for whatever, probably retarded, reason) dozens of torrents open at once. I have mine set to 100. Some people say to keep this high (1000-10000) if you're running linux, as "everything is treated as a file". This is true, but from what I've seen, this setting is just for downloaded files, not application files/sockets/whatever. Setting it higher than 1000 seems to make things unstable, at least in past versions. Mine is at 100 (Gentoo x86_64) and regularly getting speeds 450kB/s and peaking at about 600kB/s on an Adelphia 1.5MB/768kb cable connection. Apparently that's "awesome".
The next two options default to 0 (unlimited), I think. The first, "max outstanding disk block writes" will limit the amount of data that is kept in RAM after being downloaded before it is written to disk. The only reason you'd really want to mess with this is if your hard disk is slow (you're not running on a floppy RAID, are you?). Or you're a memory miser. If you want a small footprint and have a quick disk, maybe try setting this at... I don't know... 128-ish. That means the write queue (space in memory for temporary storage of fresh downloads before being written to disk) is limited to 2MB. But if your disk can't keep up, downloads will be put on hold. I leave this at 0 (unlimited).
Before pieces are written to disk, they are checked. If you have a modern CPU, you don't need to worry about the "max outstanding check pieces" option... unless you're a retarded memory whore. I leave this at 0 (unlimited), but if you REALLY want to keep Azureus from getting the most out of your system, set this at 10-50-ish. This limits the number of pieces able to be held before checking them. If complete, they go to the write queue. If you run out of room for your downloaded pieces to go because your CPU can't work quickly enough, your downloads will wait. Piece size varies greatly between torrents, so this setting has a varying... impact.
If you want to just read/write from/to files directly, uncheck "enable disk cache". This will have the single largest effect on memory usage. I have it checked. That means that my downloads are held in memory until it is convienient to write to my disk. That also means that what I'm uploading is held in memory, so that I don't need to access the disk each time I upload the same piece to a different person. This setting makes your system more responsive in exchange for a ("large", ~100-200MB) chunk of RAM. Unchecking this greys out the rest of the options.
Of the next two, one is explained in a paragraph next to it, and the other is obvious. Mine are set to 32 and 1024.
Check the first of the three boxes at the bottom. Its a no brainer. It'll pre-read the files you're uploading into RAM as you go, if your disk is idle. The second will use a buffer to reduce disk accesses. Check it. And unless you're having problems/developing, uncheck the last.
I know there are some options not available to certain OSes, but I've only used the latest Azureus from my Gentoo box.
If you are downloading, you arent stealing...
Whatever helps you sleep at night.
Attention deficit disorder is a complicated issue, spanning several major... HEY LET'S GO RIDE BIKES!