It's 2012. Yet large downloads are still hit-and-miss.
Most of the time, in my experience, Firefox's built-in download manager is unable to resume a partially downloaded file. It simply restarts the download. On Linux (and Cygwin), wget and curl allow reliable resumption of a download, but on Windows there's no built-in reliable way!
BitTorrent solves this problem (and many other problems) beautifully, but some companies that offer CD and DVD images still don't provide them via BitTorrent! BitTorrent has been out (and immediately popular) since 2001. What's the deal?
If you're going to offer a large download, please make it available via BitTorrent. It works great for Linux distributions and LibreOffice.
I can think of a couple of *possible* reasons:
ReplyDelete1) It is seen as a "piracy tool" by corporate suits.
2) It is seen as a "bandwidth pig" by ISP's, some of which actively block it.
3) Many home routers need to have the BitTorrent port opened manually. Companies providing CD and DVD images don't want to spend customer support dollars dealing with customers who don't know how to configure their router.
Have you attempted to ask the people involved?
Hi, Dean, thanks for commenting! I agree about the stigma of "piracy tool," but unfortunately it's a catch-22. Sites like Microsoft (which is where I was downloading) are big and reputable enough to legitimize the innocent protocol.
ReplyDeleteRegarding "bandwidth pig" -- you know what's bandwidth hogging? Trying to download the same ISO three times, because the first two times the download failed and I had no way to resume/repair it.
I think the router port problem has been resolved by now. The protocol overall has improved significantly since the first iteration, and these days I am able to use it from behind any NAT without doing anything special.
LibreOffice, Eclipse Project, and Linux distros offer BitTorrent downloads, but they tuck them behind an inconspicuous "BitTorrent" link. The average Joe won't care about that link and will just (try to) download the ISO directly. I think that helps to reduce confusion.
I am still holding my breath for Firefox's BitTorrent add-on to gain traction...