PrivTracker allows to share torrent files just with your friends, nobody else. Unlike public trackers, it shares peers only within a group which is using the same Announce URL. It really works like a private tracker, but can be generated with one click of a button.

  • Snot Flickerman
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    19 hours ago

    The smaller the swarm, the less functional bittorrent is.

    Instant private trackers for a handful of people kind of feels like its missing the entire point of how bittorrent works.

    There’s already secure, serverless ways to share a file with just a handful of people, this seems like overkill.

    EDIT: Not trying to be rude, it’s still a cool idea and well executed.

    • Draconic NEO@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      17 hours ago

      I think this is less meant for long term torrent sharing and more meant for people to use the BitTorrent protocol to share stuff with each other. They’re only sharing it with a small group of people.

      It’s not like a traditional private tracker where it’s a group of people, or a public one where it’s the whole world.

      • Snot Flickerman
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        17 hours ago

        Right, but the entire technical function of how bittorrent works is that it works better the more people are seeding and leeching, the “swarm.” By definition, this application is for a small group of people sharing files, which in my view limits its applicability compared to other, more direct options.

        Why do I need a swam if I have so few peers that it’s going to be limited to my upload speed anyway? May as well just send it directly. Does that make sense?

        When I say “overkill” that’s what I mean, it’s a technical approach that’s unsuited for what it’s aimed at because by the nature of how bittorrent works, the whole point is to speed up transfer speeds by distributing transfer among the swarm. When the swarm is three people that doesn’t actually happen (or not to the extent that it matters) and you may as well send the file directly to each recipient. (Further, direct transfer options have more options for data-in-transit encryption)

        Perhaps it makes more sense if you’re doing really large files, but even then you’re still limited by the small swarm.

  • ArtikBanana@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    15 hours ago

    It’s a neat idea, but I feel that something like Magic Wormhole would be simpler and better for this.

    I guess it’s convenient if everyone in the group is already using a torrent client.

    • pcouy@lemmy.pierre-couy.fr
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      20 hours ago

      Because you either need an announce URL or publishing your torrent to the DHT for your friends to be able to peer with you.

      Seeding copyrighted material using a public announce URL or the DHT will get you in trouble in most western countries.