Release DT with BT?

[Hotaru]

Why not make DT releases available via BitTorrent? That should take some load off your servers. It's good enough for OpenOffice.org and Linux ISOs so why not DT too.

[Reef]

DT is only 1.5 MB, while linux iso's are usually full 700 MB CD's or even DVD's.
And with BitTorrent there's always a risk that someone uploads a fake file containing a trojan or virus.

[Mystique]

Right, so when you download it direct from the mirrors here you can be sure that there no viruses or trojans in it.

[evlncrn8]

naw, they just get the adware ;p
/me runs

[Andareed]

Setup is digitally signed so you can right-click -> properties -> digitial signatures -> double click on "DAEMON Tools Code Signing Services" and check integrity.

[Elandril]

I also think that a BT release i a good idea. If the torrent comes from this website the hashes make sure that only the real content gets downloaded. The size of the file is also no problem, since BT can handle all sizes efficiently. The updates and plugins of Azureus for example are distributed via BT and most of them are only about 700kb in size.

Many big companies (Blizzard, ...) as well as Opensource Projects (Linux, ...) now use BT for distributing their software.

[chrashoverraid]

it isn't really nescessary in my opinion.....if you cant download it today from the mirrors why not try it tomorrow?? i can wait one day

[Mystique]

Thats not the point of view, its the bandwidth that will be saved from the server. 1,4MB (DT) to 35kb (BT file) !

[al1uk]

It would be more conveniant, but the risks are too big. In reality, how many users will check the digital signiture, or the MD5 Hash of a file downloaded from BT? In the end, the DT forum will have more problems with people complaining about various trojans and viruses being installed along side DT.

[Hotaru]

Think again of OpenOffice.org and Linux. Go to oooforum.org and see how many there have had virus/trojan problems arising from the use of BitTorrent. If someone can inject a trojan in a DT torrent with the .torrent and tracker at this site, think of how much worse it would be if someone injected a rootkit in your operating system. Would Debian offer their ISOs via BT if they considered it risky? Check out http://forums.debian.net/ and see how many issues you can find. Debian is so conservative that their stable kernel is still 2.6.8, and Debian stable still has XFree86 instead of X.org. Being so conservative is why the Debian backports site exists. So once again, if it's good enough for OOo and Debian, why isn't it good enough for Daemon Tools.

[muuu]

al1uk bittorrent has integertet hash checks.

BT splits alle the files up into small parts, and all parts get checked, when you resive them.

If one part doesent match the hash, then that part will be regarded as garbage, and will not be written to the HDD.

If some one trys to inject a virus/trojan/rootkit, then it will fail the hash check, and no harm will be done.

Some BT clients even ban the IP's where the falsh data comes from, so thy wont get any more from the as*hole.

The torrent file you host, has all the hash data the BT client needs to identify the file/files, and make sure thy are fine.

So if peaple get the torrent file from youre homepage, then the content will be as safe as if thy got the full file from your homepage.

[Nil Einne]

I think most if not all of us understand how torrents work. However someone can still make a fake torrent and con people into using that instead. The thing is, once we start telling people to use torrents they might get their torrents from other sources which is risky. Of course some people must already get DT from other sources which is potentially just as risky (although hopefully most people use mainstream sites which are much less likely to have fake files unlike with torrents were people may use less mainstream sites).

Perhaps more importantly, I somewhat doubt this will save much bandwidth. Sure the torrent would only be about 1k or so (it won't be 35k because it's for a single tiny file) but what about the the bandwidth consumed by the tracker?

[chrashoverraid]

you could use a tracker that already exist!! however i don't see the point for using bittorent!! A lot of people with a router need to open the ports for using it with BT! and dont know how to do that... ---> you get threads like: "can you help me open ports on my router blablabla..." Alot of people are asking things about there router
i think it is better to just download the .exe!

[Kinlaadare]

Those with a router have already opened thoses ports... But to contibute a little, I don't really think that it will be helpfull to release DT... better for big files like the last fedora (for example)

[muuu]

Well yes bittorrent can be a bit mutch, for small files.

But i know that many people, download unofficial DT torrents from random trackers. Now they are risking downloading a virus, backdoor or other nasty stuff.

But if you posted the link to a official torrent, here on the forum, the people that want to download it using a torrent can do it.

You can give them a warning, like: "Download DT using this torrent, at your own risk. If you dount know what a torrent is, or dont know the risk, then please download DT using the normal website link."

There are lots of torrent DT on the net, providing official torrent will only mean, that those who wish to use BT, have a safer torrent to use.