Not understanding the question = you're not a good bit torrent user.

Right, bit torrent works like this: I've got a file on my PC that other people want. Like a zip file of the latest Spandex Moulinex album, or a movie or something.

I run a bit of software on my computer that allows other people to connect to my PC to copy that file onto thir computers. I run that software, and advertise on an internet site that I've got the new Spandex Moulinex album. You see that on the website, click on the link, and assuming you've also got similar software on your computer you start to copy it from my PC onto yours.

Right, now you've got a copy and I've got a copy. Someone else wants to download it - they click on the link on the website, and start to download it, but the crucial thing is, and the bit that makes it all groovy, is the bit torrent client software knows to download bits of it from me and bits of it from you, so they can get it a lot quicker (potentially twice as quick) as they can download from both of us simultaneously. Scale it up a bit, so that there are hundreds of people with the album, and when someone new comes along they can get it really really really quickly (assuming they've got good downstream bandwidth).

Now, the website that makes all this tick keeps track of how much you've downloaded, and how much you've uploaded to others, and normally in this sort of community there's usage rules based on the ratio between them. For instance, some bit torrent networks insist on users maintaining a 1:1 ration - that is for every 1Gb you download you've got to allow others to upload 1Gb off you. Sticking to those rules makes you a "good" bit torrent user.

Posted By: Arizona Bay on October 22nd 2007 at 16:45:06

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