[Cialug] Ubuntu

[David Champion]

Matthew Nuzum wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 24, 2008 at 1:34 PM, David Champion <dchampion at visionary.com> wrote:
>   
>> Get yer Ubuntu here...
>>
>>  http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/04/24/1321208
>>
>>  In the slashdot comments there are links to torrents for both Ubuntu and
>> Kubuntu... don't know why the Ubuntu site doesn't have one torrent, instead
>> of dozens of FTP links...
>>     
>
> I know the answer to this one...
>
> The server administrators dislike the torrents because they cause
> headaches (the tracker I think). I (the webmaster for Ubuntu.com)
> dislike the torrents because they're far more difficult for new users
> to understand.
>
> Most computers have no BT software installed so if we pimp the BT
> links we're going to have a lot of headaches. If you're in the know
> the torrents are there to be found. They're there on the same page as
> the DVD downloads (which aren't mirrored enough places for me to
> advertise yet so commented out in the source code) and the complete
> list of mirrors.
>
> As it is, the download process is far more difficult than I'd like it.
> I wish there was a way to default the mirror selection to something
> reasonable. It'd be nice if the user just had to click the download
> button and the defaults would be sane for that user.
>
> (the reason I don't pre-select a mirror is because the application
> servers are behind web caches so the only way to do it that I know of
> is with XHR, which I've been experimenting with but the POSTs on
> release day kill the backends.)
>
> I'd love to discuss this though.
>
>   
I agree that torrents aren't perfect - but I think putting a torrent 
option on the download page would be a useful option. The new users who 
don't know what "bit torrent" is won't bother with it, but the ones who 
do use it would have the option, without having to search through a 
slashdot posting (admittedly that took an extra 30 seconds for me) to 
find the torrents. And it could potentially save you some money in 
bandwidth fees (if your ISP is charging on a metered basis).

Just seems to me like it's being hidden or repressed, which feels 
counter-intuitive for a OSS distribution.

As a counter-point - Mandriva only offered download to Club members in 
torrent format on the web site. If you needed FTP for whatever reason 
(i.e. your school's firewall blocks torrent), you had to submit a 
request, and they'd email you a key to get on and download via FTP.

-dc