The geeks among my regular readers will be familiar with this, but others may not. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re a geek if you already know about this subject of this post, but it’s likely.
BitTorrent is an inventive bit of software that is, in the opinion of this New York Times article, the ‘third generation’ of file sharing software. Like most good ideas, it has a gracefully simple premise:
BitTorrent, however, uses what could be called a Golden Rule principle: the faster you upload, the faster you are allowed to download. BitTorrent cuts up files into many little pieces, and as soon as a user has a piece, they immediately start uploading that piece to other users. So almost all of the people who are sharing a given file are simultaneously uploading and downloading pieces of the same file (unless their downloading is complete).
The other great feature, that I don’t think the article mentions, is that you search the Web for BitTorrent links. There’s no customized search functionality as there was with Kazaa or Napster. Because BitTorrent sits right on top of the Web, it’s easier to use. I just used it to download the new Unreal Tournament 2004 Demo (BitTorrent links are here, Slashdot discussion is here). More on that later.
DarrenBarefoot.com 
BitTorrent’s biggest flaw: if the initial ‘tracker’ goes down, a torrent becomes useless. Nifty branching structure that dies if it loses it’s original link.
with Kazaa Lite going down, there’s talk that BitTorrent’ll be the next big thing, but the problem is that if you’re downloading casually, you get no speed.
What’s happening to Kazaa Lite?
Does it make me extra geeky if I’m excited that I know what you’re talking about in this post?
She-who-is-privileged-to-be-enumerated-amongst-the-geeky-fans.
Chanelle: Kazaa Lite is getting sued and raided into non-existence. You can still download versions off the Web, but the worldwide clout of the RIAA and MPAA are kicking its butt.
Becky, welcome to the club.
I’m actually surprised that more companies aren’t using BT. In the day and age when everyone is bitching about bandwidth costs, and when trying to download a game demo or update you end up in a maze of download sites which either force you to register, put you in a queue of 800 other people, or just lead you to a list of other download sites, BT seems to be at least part of the solution. Of course, these companies are using these to keep users on the site, hit them with ads and whever else you get by forcing them to register… Still, I get very frustrated when I’m told I have 985minutes left in queue. I think a BT link would help. Of course, most of those sites have a “buy our premium service and go to the front of the line” lines. Feh.
for Kazaa Lite, the trick is to get an older version of it so the RIAA and all that can’t get to you, but I got a virus the last time I used my older version so I just uninstalled it. I’ll stick to Soulseek (which is only good for music) until I figure out what else to try for warez and all that.
Oh and skip Kazaa Lite, the whole Kazaa network is dying a quick death.
Try Shareaza.
Shareaza = Gnutella 2 + BitTorrent dynamic trackers (a possible solution to the primary tracker problem I mentioned earlier).
Alas Kazaa Lite is dying. Shareaza is good in principle, but I am not sold on it’s stability – it managed to delete my entire share. BitTorrent is great but unless you are happy to consume your uplink 24/7 you might find it frustrating. However I have found DC++ to be a very satisfying experience. I suggest all those who are leaving Kazaa Lite give it a try, but RTFM.