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How to BitTorrent: Beginner edition

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Topic Starter
Jangsoodlor
BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer sharing protocol developed in 2001. To this day, it's one of the most popular p2p file-sharing protocols ever created. It's widely used for downloading... uh... legal copies ISO Files of various Linux distributions and FOSS (Free and Open-Source Software) like LibreOffice, GIMP etc. because sometimes it has a higher speed of downloading.

In this tutorial, I will demonstrate how to obtain a legal copy of LibreOffice, a free and open-source office suite, using qBittorent as a client. If you intended to follow along, please install qBittorent.

In order to download contents using BitTorrent protocol, you need to have the .torrent file or a magnet link first. These files contains metadata of the contents you're intended to torrent.

In the LibreOffice download site, you'll see there's an option for Torrent



This will download .torrent file.


Or click Info and you'll be presented with the magnet link



Either download the .torrent file, or copying the magnet link. Then open your qBittorrent.


If you choose to download the .torrent file, then click "Add Torrent File...". But if you choose to use Magnet Link, select "Add Torrent Link..." and click Download. Either way, you'll be presented with this screen



In this screen, you can change the download directory. Make sure that "Start Torrent" is selected. And the contents that you want to download on the right pane is also selected. Then click OK.



Your LibreOffice should start to download.
There're some vocabularies that may seems strange to you, here's their meanings:
  1. Seeds: They're people who had finished downloading and is sharing their completed copy on the internet. A peer or downloader becomes a seed when it completely downloads all the data and continues/starts uploading data for other peers to download from.
  2. Leech: Leech has two meanings. Often, leecher is synonymous with downloader: simply describing a peer or any client that does not have 100% of the data. Or someone with very poor share ratio
  3. Peers: A peer is one instance of a BitTorrent client running on a computer on the Internet to which other clients connect and transfer data. Depending on context, "peer" can refer either to any clients which may or may not finished their download or more specifically to a downloader, a client that has only parts of the file.
  4. Ratio: The ratio of data downloaded vs data uploaded, since BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer protocol, your downloaded contents, wheter completed or not, may be downloaded by someone else too. A ratio of 1 means that you've shared the same amount of what you downloaded, a ratio below 1 means you share less than you downloaded, and a ratio above 1 means that you shared more than you downloaded. The basic manners of torrent users is that your ratio should be at least 1 before you stop seeding.
  5. Availability: the number of peers who have a copy of that piece, the higher the better.
  6. Piece: This refers to the torrented files being divided up into equal specific sized pieces (e.g., 64kB, 128kB, 512kB, 1MB, 2MB, 4MB or 8MB). The pieces are distributed in a random fashion among peers in order to optimize trading efficiency.
After you finished your download, the torrent will move from "Downloading" to "Completed" tab. You could stop seeding by either exiting qBittorrent, or right click on your torrent file and click "Pause".

Note that files that you did not paused or removed will resume downloading and/or seeding when you starts your qBittorrent client.


And finally,
THIS THREAD IS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, I NEITHER CONDONE NOR SUPPORT OBTAINING ANY ILLEGAL COPIES OF CONTENTS ONLINE.
As with downloading other stuffs on the internet. Please download the legal copies of contents from trustworthy sites. Failure to do so may infected your PC with malicious viruses, land you in jail, or both.

Reference:
Glossary of BitTorrent terms. (2024, May 17). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_BitTorrent_terms
sametdze
when i press on my folders i don't want that weird click sound
Karmine

sametdze wrote:

when i press on my folders i don't want that weird click sound
What?

Man use a dark theme these screenshots are like flash bangs.
vi_xlt

Karmine wrote:

sametdze wrote:

when i press on my folders i don't want that weird click sound
What?

Man use a dark theme these screenshots are like flash bangs.
OMG Karmine haiiiiii ^^ (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)
sametdze

Karmine wrote:

sametdze wrote:

when i press on my folders i don't want that weird click sound
What?
i once downloaded a torrent (i think it was uTorrent). then whenever i clicked on a folder my computer would make a little click sound. the sound went away the second i uninstalled uTorrent
Lapizote

sametdze wrote:

Karmine wrote:

sametdze wrote:

when i press on my folders i don't want that weird click sound
What?
i once downloaded a torrent (i think it was uTorrent). then whenever i clicked on a folder my computer would make a little click sound. the sound went away the second i uninstalled uTorrent
what in the bonzi buddy type of shit did you accidentally download

when i still used utorrent that has never once happened to me
Karmine

Lapizote wrote:

sametdze wrote:

Karmine wrote:

sametdze wrote:

when i press on my folders i don't want that weird click sound
What?
i once downloaded a torrent (i think it was uTorrent). then whenever i clicked on a folder my computer would make a little click sound. the sound went away the second i uninstalled uTorrent
what in the bonzi buddy type of shit did you accidentally download

when i still used utorrent that has never once happened to me
Dude got the wish version lol.
qBittorrent is the best client by far imo, utorrent is basically malware now (ads + I think there was some crypto mining at some point?).


cr0w wrote:

Karmine wrote:

sametdze wrote:

when i press on my folders i don't want that weird click sound
What?

Man use a dark theme these screenshots are like flash bangs.
OMG Karmine haiiiiii ^^ (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)
Hello there.
Patatitta
for a simplified version:

download your torrent client, copy the magnet link or download the torrent file, and then paste the magnet link on the app or open the torrent file, after that, you wait, and that's it.
Karmine

Patatitta wrote:

for a simplified version:

download your torrent client, copy the magnet link or download the torrent file, and then paste the magnet link on the app or open the torrent file, after that, you wait, and that's it.
You don't even need to copy the link if it's clickable just click it and open with client.
Zain Sugieres
that's qBittorrent not bittorrent, specify that in the title
z0z
jab?
Patatitta

Karmine wrote:

Patatitta wrote:

for a simplified version:

download your torrent client, copy the magnet link or download the torrent file, and then paste the magnet link on the app or open the torrent file, after that, you wait, and that's it.
You don't even need to copy the link if it's clickable just click it and open with client.
depending on the site you are there may be popups for the magnet, so I personally just prefeer copying it, still, if the site is trustworthy you can just click on it
Topic Starter
Jangsoodlor

Zain Sugieres wrote:

that's qBittorrent not bittorrent, specify that in the title
Yeah I demonstrate it using qBittorrent, but the principles (i.e., torrent files, magnet links, seed, ratio, etc) are the same.
BluePyTheWDeer_
Ok.
Winnyace

Zain Sugieres wrote:

that's qBittorrent not bittorrent, specify that in the title
The client =/= The protocol.
Zain Sugieres

Winnyace wrote:

Zain Sugieres wrote:

that's qBittorrent not bittorrent, specify that in the title
The client =/= The protocol.
id honestly specify the fact hes using qbittorrent (the best option rn) so that people dont download Bittorent (essentially malware)
Serraionga

Jangsoodlor wrote:

It's widely used for downloading... uh... legal copies ISO Files of various Linux distributions and FOSS

Jangsoodlor wrote:

And finally,
THIS THREAD IS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, I NEITHER CONDONE NOR SUPPORT OBTAINING ANY ILLEGAL COPIES OF CONTENTS ONLINE.
As with downloading other stuffs on the internet. Please download the legal copies of contents from trustworthy sites. Failure to do so may infected your PC with malicious viruses, land you in jail, or both.


But of course. I'll go right ahead and start downloading my... uh... "ISO Files of various Linux distributions" (which are totally not replacement words for anything illegal, I promise).
Karmine

Patatitta wrote:

Karmine wrote:

Patatitta wrote:

for a simplified version:

download your torrent client, copy the magnet link or download the torrent file, and then paste the magnet link on the app or open the torrent file, after that, you wait, and that's it.
You don't even need to copy the link if it's clickable just click it and open with client.
depending on the site you are there may be popups for the magnet, so I personally just prefeer copying it, still, if the site is trustworthy you can just click on it
You mean some have fake links? lol never seen that but yeah it's safer to copy I guess.
Karmine

Serraionga wrote:

Jangsoodlor wrote:

It's widely used for downloading... uh... legal copies ISO Files of various Linux distributions and FOSS

Jangsoodlor wrote:

And finally,
THIS THREAD IS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, I NEITHER CONDONE NOR SUPPORT OBTAINING ANY ILLEGAL COPIES OF CONTENTS ONLINE.
As with downloading other stuffs on the internet. Please download the legal copies of contents from trustworthy sites. Failure to do so may infected your PC with malicious viruses, land you in jail, or both.


But of course. I'll go right ahead and start downloading my... uh... "ISO Files of various Linux distributions" (which are totally not replacement words for anything illegal, I promise).

These are my actual torrents.
I may or may not have others.
ColdTooth
my ass can't read
Winnyace

Zain Sugieres wrote:

Winnyace wrote:

Zain Sugieres wrote:

that's qBittorrent not bittorrent, specify that in the title
The client =/= The protocol.
id honestly specify the fact hes using qbittorrent (the best option rn) so that people dont download Bittorent (essentially malware)
It's in the first few paragraphs that OP indirectly endorses qBitTorrent, however, I do agree that he should have been more pushy with it, considering that BitTorrent as a client is shit.
MusicRitman
Thanks! Now I can finally download government secretive documents and leak them online :)
Lapizote

ColdTooth wrote:

my ass can't read
well duh, vulpixes dont read
Patatitta

ColdTooth wrote:

my ass can't read
it's not worth it to read it, it's overly technical for no real reason at all
Winnyace

Patatitta wrote:

ColdTooth wrote:

my ass can't read
it's not worth it to read it, it's overly technical for no real reason at all
It isn't. It doesn't go into any more details than someone should need to know about the protocol. Overly technical would be OP explaining the protocol's inner workings in detail, not explaining a basic glossary of the terms used around and torrenting etiquette.
Patatitta

Winnyace wrote:

Patatitta wrote:

ColdTooth wrote:

my ass can't read
it's not worth it to read it, it's overly technical for no real reason at all
It isn't. It doesn't go into any more details than someone should need to know about the protocol. Overly technical would be OP explaining the protocol's inner workings in detail, not explaining a basic glossary of the terms used around and torrenting etiquette.
idk, if this is a guide on how to use torrent, all the definition of words are unnecessary, you don't need to know those words to download this. If it's a guide on what bittorrent is, then how to download a client is unnecessary,
Nuuskamuikkunen
Libreoffice based.

Also @JustABeginner
abraker
you wouldnt torrent a car
Karmine
Why do people mention JAB here?
z0z

Karmine wrote:

Why do people mention JAB here?
jabbo \(^o^)/
Mysdibule

abraker wrote:

you wouldnt torrent a car

Jangsoodlor wrote:

And finally,
THIS THREAD IS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, I NEITHER CONDONE NOR SUPPORT OBTAINING ANY ILLEGAL COPIES OF CONTENTS ONLINE.
As with downloading other stuffs on the internet. Please download the legal copies of contents from trustworthy sites. Failure to do so may infected your PC with malicious viruses, land you in jail, or both.
⬆️ A LEGAL car.

MusicRitman wrote:

Thanks! Now I can finally download government secretive documents and leak them online :)
But they're different from... uh... copies ISO Files of various Linux distributions and FOSS (Free and Open-Source Software) like LibreOffice.

Karmine wrote:

Man use a dark theme these screenshots are like flash bangs.
Getting used to light mode is hard I guess...

z0z wrote:

Karmine wrote:

Why do people mention JAB here?
jabbo \(^o^)/
Effectively, why they dissolved
vi_xlt

ColdTooth wrote:

my ass can't read
it's the old age
Nuuskamuikkunen

Karmine wrote:

Why do people mention JAB here?
Because he's THE beginner.
Karmine

Nuuskamuikkunen wrote:

Karmine wrote:

Why do people mention JAB here?
Because he's THE beginner.
Oh I thought I was missing something but no it's jut about the name and title :cry:
Topic Starter
Jangsoodlor

Zain Sugieres wrote:

Winnyace wrote:

Zain Sugieres wrote:

that's qBittorrent not bittorrent, specify that in the title
The client =/= The protocol.
id honestly specify the fact hes using qbittorrent (the best option rn) so that people dont download Bittorent (essentially malware)
Bit torrent is the name of the protocol. qBittorrent (and many others) are clients that implemented the protocol.

Patatitta wrote:

Winnyace wrote:

Patatitta wrote:

ColdTooth wrote:

my ass can't read
it's not worth it to read it, it's overly technical for no real reason at all
It isn't. It doesn't go into any more details than someone should need to know about the protocol. Overly technical would be OP explaining the protocol's inner workings in detail, not explaining a basic glossary of the terms used around and torrenting etiquette.
idk, if this is a guide on how to use torrent, all the definition of words are unnecessary, you don't need to know those words to download this. If it's a guide on what bittorrent is, then how to download a client is unnecessary,
Those definitions are necessary. Also beginners won't know what client to use so I give them one of the easiest one to use. And the tutorial don't contain how to install qBittorrent.
Lapizote

Jangsoodlor wrote:

text

Patatitta wrote:

Winnyace wrote:

Patatitta wrote:

it's not worth it to read it, it's overly technical for no real reason at all
It isn't. It doesn't go into any more details than someone should need to know about the protocol. Overly technical would be OP explaining the protocol's inner workings in detail, not explaining a basic glossary of the terms used around and torrenting etiquette.
idk, if this is a guide on how to use torrent, all the definition of words are unnecessary, you don't need to know those words to download this. If it's a guide on what bittorrent is, then how to download a client is unnecessary,

Those definitions are necessary. Also beginners won't know what client to use so I give them one of the easiest one to use. And the tutorial don't contain how to install qBittorrent.
+1

when i started torrenting i didnt know what a seeder and leecher was so i was confused when some torrents had slow ass downloading speeds

and also i was someone who never seeded their torrents lol
Karmine

Lapizote wrote:

and also i was someone who never seeded their torrents lol
Officer, this man here.
Lapizote

Karmine wrote:

Lapizote wrote:

and also i was someone who never seeded their torrents lol
Officer, this man here.
i am a changed man

as a form of repentance i try to do a seeding ratio of >=3
z0z
Lapizote

z0z wrote:

sometimes pausing then resuming it fixes the problem
Karmine

Lapizote wrote:

Karmine wrote:

Lapizote wrote:

and also i was someone who never seeded their torrents lol
Officer, this man here.
i am a changed man

as a form of repentance i try to do a seeding ratio of >=3

Lapizote wrote:

z0z wrote:

sometimes pausing then resuming it fixes the problem
Force reannounce should do the same, but sometimes there's just 0 seeder. :(
tizinia
i cant wait to download some isos with this information
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