Midnight Madness?

[Susan Bugher]

What if. . .

ACF participants volunteered to help distribute Freeware programs via
bit torrent? Something similar to the PL2006 CD distribution. . . This
is how we got that torrent distribution started:

---------

1. download µTorrent (if you haven't already)
http://www.utorrent.com/

2. No installation is needed. Put the file where you want it and start
it running.

3. Put the ISO file you've downloaded in the folder where you will
store downloads from uTorrent. .

3. In the file menu select "add torrent from URL"

4. paste this URL into the URL box:

http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/ftp/PL2006_CDISO.iso.torrent

uTorrent will recognize the PL2006 ISO file you downloaded via HTTP.
Once that happens others will be able to get the file from you.

------------

Helping to distribute Freeware files could work almost the same way.

Authors could post a message in ACF asking newsgroup participants to
download the program and participate in the torrent distribution, create
a trackerless bit torrent, upload it to their web sites and show the
torrent distribution as an option on their download page - as we do on
the PL CD's web page:
http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/2006/2006PL-CD-about.php

ISTM this might work. . . almost no organization required. . .
creating a trackerless torrent file is super simple. . .

?????

Susan
--
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[Nicolaas Hawkins]

On Thu, 02 Mar 2006 23:42:08 -0500, Susan Bugher <[email protected]>
wrote in <
[...]

uTorrent will recognize the PL2006 ISO file you downloaded via HTTP.
Once that happens others will be able to get the file from you.

[...]

What about users in other parts of the world who for one reason or another
are still uing dial-up (and will be for the foreseeable future) and for
whom a 24/7 (or even extended) connect is not a workable option?

--
Regards,
Nicolaas.

Pricelessware 2006 CD now available.
E-Mail for details: raptor740.gmail@com (swap "." and "@")


.... Those who know, know who doesn't.

 

[Susan Bugher]

What about users in other parts of the world who for one reason or another
are still uing dial-up (and will be for the foreseeable future) and for
whom a 24/7 (or even extended) connect is not a workable option?

The *biggest* help might be people who are always on-line but IMO many
of the rest of us could also make a useful contribution. ISTM someone
who is normally on-line for a few hours a day could help just by keeping
their torrent client open during the time. People on dial-up can upload
or download small files in a short period of time and most Freeware
files are fairly small. IOW - several dial-up connections that are
on-line part of the time more or less = one always-on high-speed
connection. . .

Susan
--
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[meow2222]

Nicolaas Hawkins wrote:

The *biggest* help might be people who are always on-line but IMO many
of the rest of us could also make a useful contribution. ISTM someone
who is normally on-line for a few hours a day could help just by keeping
their torrent client open during the time. People on dial-up can upload
or download small files in a short period of time and most Freeware
files are fairly small. IOW - several dial-up connections that are
on-line part of the time more or less = one always-on high-speed
connection. . .

Susan

With simultaneous down or up load, dialup web access slows to a crawl.
And dialup data rates are pitiful to start with.


NT

 

[meow2222]

Nicolaas Hawkins wrote:

The *biggest* help might be people who are always on-line but IMO many
of the rest of us could also make a useful contribution. ISTM someone
who is normally on-line for a few hours a day could help just by keeping
their torrent client open during the time. People on dial-up can upload
or download small files in a short period of time and most Freeware
files are fairly small. IOW - several dial-up connections that are
on-line part of the time more or less = one always-on high-speed
connection. . .

Susan

With simultaneous down or up load, dialup web access slows to a crawl.
And dialup data rates are pitiful to start with.

BTW why have none of the popular browsers ever implemented ul/dl stream
prioritisation? With some streams could be set to background priority,
dialuppers could dl a large file and still surf the net at the full
snail's pace. The large file dl would simply be paused while dling a
wanted webpage.


NT

 

[Susan Bugher]

What if. . .

ACF participants volunteered to help distribute Freeware programs via
bit torrent?

Backing up to the problem statement. . .

Freeware is free to the recipient but the more successful a program is,
the more money his Freeware gift costs the author. ISTM that methods of
distribution that penalize success are not a good way to ensure that the
distribution of Freeware will continue.

My question is: What can we as a group do to help keep Freeware free?

Susan
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[mike]

What if. . .

ACF participants volunteered to help distribute Freeware programs via
bit torrent? Something similar to the PL2006 CD distribution. . . This
is how we got that torrent distribution started:

---------

Would this be counted in our data allawance? I think I might be over my
limit fairly quickly, my ISP counts data in bothe directions.

mike

 

[Susan Bugher]

Would this be counted in our data allawance? I think I might be over my
limit fairly quickly, my ISP counts data in bothe directions.

Hi Mike,

I have no idea what the rules are for your ISP. I know I can upload for
free. Others can too if they have "unlimited" or *unused* capacity.
Dunno how many ACF participants fall into those categories. . .

Susan
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[mike]

Hi Mike,

I have no idea what the rules are for your ISP. I know I can upload for
free. Others can too if they have "unlimited" or *unused* capacity.
Dunno how many ACF participants fall into those categories. . .

Hello Susan,

In UK we've got loadsa packages, but I think they fall mainly into
expensive non metered ones, and cheaper ones with limits, (but IME plenty
of allowance for the normal user). I've no idea how gamers, etc, get on.

I'll have to check on my rates, and if anyone knows how much extra
contributing to bttorrent would add

mike

 

[Susan Bugher]

In UK we've got loadsa packages, but I think they fall mainly into
expensive non metered ones, and cheaper ones with limits, (but IME plenty
of allowance for the normal user). I've no idea how gamers, etc, get on.

FWIW my impression is that people in the UK have higher rates/ more
restrictions than most other places.

I'll have to check on my rates, and if anyone knows how much extra
contributing to bttorrent would add

That may be putting the cart before the horse. We haven't talked about
how many programs etc. etc. etc. So far I haven't heard anyone say they
like the *idea* - ISTM that decision needs to come first (working out
the details to follow).

A little factoid for you:
http://www.irfanview.com/download_sites.htm
"Since year 2003, IrfanView has over 1 Million downloads EVERY month!
(counting 3-4 major mirrors)"

Susan
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Pricelessware & ACF: http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org (not maintained)

 

[meow2222]

That may be putting the cart before the horse. We haven't talked about
how many programs etc. etc. etc. So far I haven't heard anyone say they
like the *idea* - ISTM that decision needs to come first (working out
the details to follow).

A little factoid for you:
http://www.irfanview.com/download_sites.htm
"Since year 2003, IrfanView has over 1 Million downloads EVERY month!
(counting 3-4 major mirrors)"

Susan

I like the idea, though I dont see it as workable for those on dialup.
Since most are on fraudband now, and the broadsters can contribute way
more bandwidth than diallers anyway, that shouldnt be a problem.

And dont forget 56k dialup only offers 33k upload speed, and only then
while not dling anything... which isnt what most net users do. And that
half 33k or whatever is bits not bytes. And even then, at least here in
UK one only sometimes gets the speed advertised, generally you're
sharing bandwidth with others, and the stated speed figure is 'upto'
rather than 'always'.

So even by dialup standards the bitrate from a dialupper would be very
poor, and probably not worth having.


NT

 

[dszady]

With simultaneous down or up load, dialup web access slows to a crawl. And
dialup data rates are pitiful to start with.

I use Bittornado for certain files.... It's based on Bittorent but better.
It can be setup for dail-up in background mode and can be paused for ISP
off-hours. Windows version, I don't know.
Next.

If Susan B. would contact me at the usual address and give me a
tutorial on trackerless torrent files. Or/and figure a different system
with the ISO in one and the seperate files in another.
I tried this one day a few weeks ago but didn't have a guinea pig.

 

[dszady]

The *biggest* help might be people who are always on-line but IMO many of
the rest of us could also make a useful contribution. ISTM someone who is
normally on-line for a few hours a day could help just by keeping their
torrent client open during the time. People on dial-up can upload or
download small files in a short period of time and most Freeware files are
fairly small. IOW - several dial-up connections that are on-line part of
the time more or less = one always-on high-speed connection. . .

I'm on-line 24/7. (Sometimes Sunday off.)
This is a follow-up to my last thread down the list somewhere.
Yes, there is a Windows version of Bittornado.

http://www.bittornado.com/

And a personal screenshot:
http://dszady.com/bittornado.jpg
As can be seen, I use it and recommend it.
It should do everything needed to be a seed or a leech.
And it chooses random un-used ports and washes the dishes too.

Like I said in my post before, if you could contact me, Susan B., perhaps
we could work out a viable solution for broadband and dial-up users.
Now more homework.

 

[Susan Bugher]

Susan Bugher wrote:

I like the idea, though I dont see it as workable for those on dialup.

Gotta disagree with you. Been there. Done that. I'm on dial-up. I just
opened uTorrent to see how much of the PL2006 ISO I've uploaded to date
(I downloaded the entire 637 MB ISO on dial-up). Someone *immediately*
started downloading from my file. Total uploaded to date: 226 MB and
rising.

226 MB = a lot of small files. IMO dial-up would work *very* well for
uploading/downloading small files. Here's a brief sample of this year's
PW file sizes - many of them are less than 1 MB:

[ 4d2b38.exe (3913 KB)]
[ 4dos.exe (1252 KB)]
[ aawsepersonal.exe (2788 KB)]
[ agentran.exe (792 KB)]
[ apscinst.exe (4.8 MB)]
[ allchars362setup.exe (474 KB)] [ allchars362.zip (361 KB)]
[ dlsetup.exe (825 KB)]
[ antivir_workstation_win7_en_h.exe (11722 KB) Win 9x/ME] [
antivir_workstation_win7u_en_h.exe (11125 KB) Win NT/2000/XP]
[ apw.zip (640 KB)]
[ ramdisk.zip (93 KB)]
[ atlant10n_en.exe (767 KB) English]
[ AutoHotkeyInstall.exe (1619 KB)] [ AutoHotkey104203.zip (1628 KB)]
[ Autoruns.zip (278 KB]

Susan
--
Posted to alt.comp.freeware
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Pricelessware & ACF: http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org (not maintained)

 

[Terry Russell]

Susan Bugher wrote:

I like the idea, though I dont see it as workable for those on dialup.

Gotta disagree with you. Been there. Done that. I'm on dial-up. I just
opened uTorrent to see how much of the PL2006 ISO I've uploaded to date (I
downloaded the entire 637 MB ISO on dial-up). Someone *immediately*
started downloading from my file. Total uploaded to date: 226 MB and
rising.


226 MB = a lot of small files. IMO dial-up would work *very* well for
uploading/downloading small files. Here's a brief sample of this year's PW
file sizes - many of them are less than 1 MB:

[ 4d2b38.exe (3913 KB)]
[ 4dos.exe (1252 KB)]
[ aawsepersonal.exe (2788 KB)]
[ agentran.exe (792 KB)]
[ apscinst.exe (4.8 MB)]
[ allchars362setup.exe (474 KB)] [ allchars362.zip (361 KB)]
[ dlsetup.exe (825 KB)]
[ antivir_workstation_win7_en_h.exe (11722 KB) Win 9x/ME] [
antivir_workstation_win7u_en_h.exe (11125 KB) Win NT/2000/XP]
[ apw.zip (640 KB)]
[ ramdisk.zip (93 KB)]
[ atlant10n_en.exe (767 KB) English]
[ AutoHotkeyInstall.exe (1619 KB)] [ AutoHotkey104203.zip (1628 KB)]
[ Autoruns.zip (278 KB]

with torrents there isn't much point for small files, once you find the
torrent, start it,
check to see if anyone is actually supporting it, then find a new one it
could be tiresome
The point is that a lot of servers all contribute parts of a large file,
otherwise it
is a just an automatic mirror selector..which has its place.

If an author wanted to set up a torrent for download, run a seed, indicate
it as an alternative
download on their site and maybe place a request here to d/l and seed it
because they
were under some pressure , or just to take some load off the monthly
percentages,
I suppose I may leave it in torrent for a while and chip in a gig or three.

Some offloading may turn out to be worth it for popular/large apps if the
author
is really hurting for capacity or extra mirrors but then how do they count
downloads on torrents?
measure interest in their app/website?..no feedback if people just post a
torrent somewhere,
just a rush of complains..which may be sign of a bad release or just an
enormously popular download.
You could make it phonehome but that isn't very popular.

I couldn't really see managing a couple of dozen or hundred files and
torrents
and keeping them in sync with the authors latest.

It can't hurt to give it a go.

 

[Peter Seiler]

Susan Bugher - 03.03.2006 05:42 :

What if. . .

ACF participants volunteered to help distribute Freeware programs via
bit torrent? Something similar to the PL2006 CD distribution. . . This
is how we got that torrent distribution started:

---------

1. download µTorrent (if you haven't already)
http://www.utorrent.com/

2. No installation is needed. Put the file where you want it and start
it running.

[...]

I'm absolutely new working with torrent/bittorrent/utorrent. I googled
for downloadable manuals/how to use/hlp-files etc. especially for
uTorrent but found not really what I want ("only" FAQ). Do you/somebody
with some experiences from the beginning with utorrent can recommend
some hints where to look? THX in advance.

BTW: Is somewhere are a smaller .Torrent beside the over 600MB seized
PL2006 CD for experiencing purposes a little bit with uTorrent which i
downloaded?

As you mentioned uTorrent comes with no installation, but it left some
things in the system partition an the registry, IMHO?

 

[meow2222]

Gotta disagree with you. Been there. Done that. I'm on dial-up. I just
opened uTorrent to see how much of the PL2006 ISO I've uploaded to date
(I downloaded the entire 637 MB ISO on dial-up). Someone *immediately*
started downloading from my file. Total uploaded to date: 226 MB and
rising.

226 MB = a lot of small files. IMO dial-up would work *very* well for
uploading/downloading small files. Here's a brief sample of this year's
PW file sizes - many of them are less than 1 MB:

[ 4d2b38.exe (3913 KB)]
[ 4dos.exe (1252 KB)]
[ aawsepersonal.exe (2788 KB)]
[ agentran.exe (792 KB)]
[ apscinst.exe (4.8 MB)]
[ allchars362setup.exe (474 KB)] [ allchars362.zip (361 KB)]
[ dlsetup.exe (825 KB)]
[ antivir_workstation_win7_en_h.exe (11722 KB) Win 9x/ME] [
antivir_workstation_win7u_en_h.exe (11125 KB) Win NT/2000/XP]
[ apw.zip (640 KB)]
[ ramdisk.zip (93 KB)]
[ atlant10n_en.exe (767 KB) English]
[ AutoHotkeyInstall.exe (1619 KB)] [ AutoHotkey104203.zip (1628 KB)]
[ Autoruns.zip (278 KB]

Susan

Well youre quite right for small files, but for a whole iso you've got
to be both knowledgeable and determined. That will work for some, but
not for most. IE doesnt support resume, most have never heard of
bittorrent anyway, etc. I guess some will make good use, just not sure
how many.


NT

 

[meow2222]

Gotta disagree with you. Been there. Done that. I'm on dial-up. I just

Is it worth getting the old 486 online with its 14.4k modem?

NT

 

[Susan Bugher]

dszady wrote:

If Susan B. would contact me at the usual address and give me a
tutorial on trackerless torrent files. Or/and figure a different system
with the ISO in one and the seperate files in another.
I tried this one day a few weeks ago but didn't have a guinea pig.

I'm not sure we're on the same wave length. The author would make the
trackerless torrent file and host it on his web site.

Making a trackerless torrent with uTorrent (v 1.3)

1. open uTorrent
2. File menu/ "create new torrent. . ."
3. Click "Add file" (or "add directory") button
4. navigate to the file and select it
5. click "create and save as" button
6. a message box appears "Please enter a valid tracker URL. Do you want
to continue without having any trackers?
7. click on the "yes" button (do NOT enter a URL)
8. uTottent will ask where you want to save the file
9. DONE

Took a lot longer to write that than it takes to create a trackerless
torrent file.

NOTE: a trackerless torrent file doesn't have to be on a web site. Let's
say you have a bunch of family photos - if you zip them up and create a
trackerless torrent you can email the (small) torrent file and the
people you send it to can download the (large) .zip file from your
computer.

Dunno if I told you what you wanted to know. If not please tell me what
I missed.

Susan
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[Susan Bugher]

Well youre quite right for small files, but for a whole iso you've got
to be both knowledgeable and determined. That will work for some, but
not for most. IE doesnt support resume, most have never heard of
bittorrent anyway, etc. I guess some will make good use, just not sure
how many.

I agree that it takes a certain amount of determination to download a
huge file on dial-up. I don't plan on doing it often. Bit torrent
downloads *can* be resumed. Starting downloads is pretty easy. Authors
might want to put a brief how-to explanation on their web page as we did
with the PL2006 file. The PL explanation seems to be adequate - there
have been only a few questions in ACF about downloading the ISO via bit
torrent.

http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/2006/2006PL-CD-about.php

1. download µTorrent http://www.utorrent.com
2. No installation is required. Put the file where you want it and start
it running.
3. In the file menu select "add torrent from URL"
4. paste this URL into the URL box:
http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/ftp/PL2006_CDISO.iso.torrent
5. It may be several minute before uTorrent finds the download - be
patient.

Susan
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