Just wondering what a rough split is of people using either Usenet, torrents, or both?

I’ve only just discovered Usenet and while it is paid, it is very cheap and much more convenient than torrents.

Using torrents as well with the *arr suite set up for my various Linux ISOs.

  • smiletolerantly@awful.systems
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    5 months ago

    I pay for one Usenet provider/indexer. I also still use tons of torrent sources.

    90% of the time, stuff that I’m monitoring gets downloaded via Usenet for currently airing or rather new shows.

    50% of the time when actively looking for stuff from the past 5-10 years I use Usenet, the other half is torrents

    90% of stuff older than that, I only find torrents

    100% of non-English stiff I get from torrents (I’m subscribed to an English Usenet indexer though, so that tracks).

    In short: Why not use both?

    • HATEFISH@midwest.social
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      5 months ago

      Do things on usenet get purged? Would you expect the stuff showing up today to still be accessible in 5-7 years?

      • smiletolerantly@awful.systems
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        5 months ago

        Yes, they do!! With torrents, it just takes a single seeder to keep the torrent alive, but Usenet isn’t peer to peer - you’re downloading stuff from a centralized server(s), and they simply cannot keep everything alive forever.

        IMO it’s fine though. Usenet provides you with very timely access to all the “newest” stuff, in excellent, very consistent quality.

        And for older stuff, there’s torrents.

        • Zos_Kia@lemmynsfw.com
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          5 months ago

          Even without seeders, you can sometimes be lucky and resurrect old torrents that have been kept in cache by providers such as real debrid

        • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          5 months ago

          Usenet provides you with very timely access to all the “newest” stuff, in excellent, very consistent quality.

          So do some encoders and web-rippers.
          And usually Usenet does lend quite a bit of releases you usually see on private indexers or some publics.

          • smiletolerantly@awful.systems
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            5 months ago

            And usually Usenet does lend quite a bit of releases you usually see on private indexers or some publics.

            Right, that’s also true.