r307 - /website/trunk/FAQ.mdwn

[camrdale-guest at users.alioth.debian.org]

Author: camrdale-guest
Date: Thu Oct 25 23:15:29 2007
New Revision: 307

URL: http://svn.debian.org/wsvn/debtorrent/?sc=1&rev=307
Log:
web commit by camrdale-guest: Added entry about apt-torrent

Modified:
    website/trunk/FAQ.mdwn

Modified: website/trunk/FAQ.mdwn
URL: http://svn.debian.org/wsvn/debtorrent/website/trunk/FAQ.mdwn?rev=307&op=diff
==============================================================================
--- website/trunk/FAQ.mdwn (original)
+++ website/trunk/FAQ.mdwn Thu Oct 25 23:15:29 2007
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 
 #### Will DebTorrent work with other distributions/Ubuntu?
 
-Yes, (I think) but not very well.
+Yes, (I think) but not very well (yet).
 The current DebTorrent uses some additional information that is not yet
 stored in the Debian archive `Packages` files. This information allows
 DebTorrent to break up large files into multiple pieces, as otherwise
@@ -31,6 +31,28 @@
 DebTorrent. Eventually, this information will be added to the
 `Packages` files, so that anyone hosting a Debian-type archive will be
 able to efficiently use DebTorrent.
+
+#### What about apt-torrent, how do the 2 compare?
+
+DebTorrent is quite different from apt-torrent, and (I think) better.
+The problem with apt-torrent's implementation is that it requires a
+torrent file for every package downloaded. This is inefficient, as
+most packages files are quite small (a single piece torrent makes
+little sense), there are a large number of packages (each torrent adds
+overhead), and communication between torrents is not possible (one
+client will have multiple connections to another).
+
+DebTorrent creates a torrent per "Packages" file, so most of the
+packages you download will come from the same torrent (e.g. the
+unstable_main_binary-i386 torrent). This reduces the overhead and
+allows for clients to make good use of the tit-for-tat incentive
+mechanism built into bittorrent (i.e. I gave you your package now you
+give me mine).
+
+I'm not bashing apt-torrent, it's just based on an unmodified
+BitTorrent client, and BitTorrent was not created for this type of
+sharing. That is why DebTorrent is based on a modified BitTorrent
+client to make it more suitable for this type of application.
 
 ---