I think we are playing a very long hide and seek game with torrent being so reliant on trackers and web indexers/communities, they close some, others pop up, and the users are dispersed, and younger generations never learn how to pirate. In the long run we are losing.
I think we really need a fully peer-to-peer search mechanism, integrated to torrent client, and despite the difficulties, I think it is possible to have something that is permissionless, yet safe, based on a distributed, Sybil resistant, reputation system.
I think tribler search feature is a good start, but its tor-like privacy features makes it too slow, preventing its widespread adoption (and given the search is basically trusting the peers, it would be overwhelmed with garbage if it became mainstream).
I didn’t know this existed but I don’t think being reliant on a few indexers is that much of a problem.
I see a bigger problem in torrenting being reliant on trusted VPN providers and their legal status.
Then tribler is made for you, because it comes bundled with a TOR-like anonymizing network. Theoretically, you don’t need a VPN with it, just run and download/upload. But you’ll see the speed sucks, probably because the network is still very small.
But I don’t think this a problem faced by most people in the world, outside of the developed countries where torrenting can get you in legal trouble. Reliable access to the content, preferably just using a phone, is the major problem.
Been on same private trackers for over 10 years. I can explain the tech and get even the most iPhone user in the younger generation torrenting with full arr stack in an hour if they have a spare old laptop.
Containers made the process beyond simple. My fully automated (except requesting shit in Seerr) setup would’ve taken years of writing scripts back in my day. I can rebuild it in a few hours today. Fewer hours with Ai.
I haven’t used tribler, but I like the sound of it.
