When they think of torrents, most people think only of illegal downloads. But the same file sharing technology can be used for legal distribution of all kinds of content. Today, for instance, the record label Labrador Records is asking fans to share its free summer sample on The Pirate Bay to ease the load on its servers.
To show that torrenting isn’t all bad, we’ve rounded up 50+ tools to help you get started on the torrent path, all with totally legal uses.
Distribution Sites Of Legal Content
BitTorrent – From the makers of the original software, they now offer a mixture of free and pay-for content.
bt.etree.org – Band videos of “trade friendly†musicians.
BTSharp – Integrates with .NET apps and helps you distribute with private trackers.
Ibiblo.org – Torrent distribution site of ibiblo content.
Legaltorrents.com – A completely legal torrent site and a great place to experiment and get a feeling for how it works.
LegitTorrents.info – Includes free videos, games and Linux distributions.
LinuxTracker.org – A centralized location for Linux related software, all delivered by torrent.
PublicDomainTorrents.com – Hundreds of torrent media files that reside in the public domain such as movies, TV shows, serials and more. (WARNING:Occasional rotating questionable ad)
Revision3.com – Mixture of torrent-delivered media and direct downloads of vidcasts.
Star Trek:New Voyages – Fan-produced Star Trek episodes, some with original cast members, all distributed with torrents.
SXSW – Free torrents from the organizers of the SXSW music festival.
tlm-project.org – The Linux Mirror Project, helping spread the alternative operating system.
Vuze.com – From the makers of the Azureus client, hosts a mixture of free and pay-for content, all delivered via torrents.
Information Sites
Brian’s BitTorrent FAQ – Large FAQ that answers some of the most basic questions about starting with torrents.
Magoo’s Guide To BitTorrent – An in-depth instruction from beginning to advanced torrent use.
Slyck.com – News from around the torrent community.
TorrentFreak.com – Up-to-date news on the torrent community of both the legal and illegal variety. Occasionally offers legal downloads. They also have a good tutorial on how to start a torrent of your own using some of the most popular clients.
Video Tutorial – A nearly 14 minute video demo of how to get started with torrent clients and downloading from sclipo.com.
Vlad44.com FAQ – Covers some very in-depth questions about torrents such as how to make your own and to configure your web server to host the files.
Wikipedia entry on BitTorrent – Explains how the technology works, some of the history, legal issues, and more.
Torrent Clients
ABC Client – Runs on Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP and Linux.
Acquisition – A torrent client exclusively for Macs.
Arctic Torrent – Runs on Windows 2000/XP/XP 64/2003/2003 64.
Azureus – Runs on all operating systems and supports numerous languages.
BitComet – Runs on Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista, some support for Windows 98.
BitLord – Works with Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/2003.
BitPump – Runs on all versions of Windows.
BitSpirit – Compatible with Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/2003.
BitTornado – Windows (doesn’t list which versions), Linux, OS X, BSD.
BitTorrent – The original one developed by Bram Cohen. Works with OS X, Linux, and Windows. Is sometimes referred to as “Mainline†to denote its status as the original.
BitTyrant – Works with Linux, OS X, and Windows.
Bits On Wheels – Exclusively for Macs, features 3D images of your peer swarm.
Burst! – Compatible back to Windows 98.
Deluge – A Linux client
Enhanced cTorrent – For Linux.
FlashGet – Windows-only client program.
FoxTorrent – Torrent client that integrates with the Firefox browser.
Gnome BitTorrent – Another Linux only torrent client.
Halite – Windows NT, 2000, XP
KTorrent – For Linux and OS X.
Opera – Web browsing suite with a built-in torrent client.
qBittorent – For Linux and OS X.
QTorrent – A bittorrent client for Linux.
rTorrent – For Linux and OS X.
sharktorrent – For Linux, OS X, Windows.
Tomato Torrent – Only for the OS X operating system.
Torrent Swapper – For Linux, OS X and Windows – all flavors.
TorrentVolve – For Linux, OS X and Windows (versions not listed).
Transmission – Available for Linux and OS X.
Turbo Torrent – Windows only.
μTorrent – Windows only.
WizBit – For S60 smartphones.
Wikipedia Client Comparison – Lists the features of all the clients so you can choose which one best suits your needs. (via)