Why is registration required for downloading?

[Hatta00]

I do not use Ubuntu on a regular basis, but I am quite frequently finding files hosted on the ubuntu forums that I need anyway. It would be a huge benefit to the Linux community at large if we could download files without having to register.

I'm not sure what you guys would have to lose from this. The act of registering costs you more bandwidth and cpu power than just transferring the file. I have enough trouble trying to manage dozens of forum accounts anyway, trying to remember an ubuntuforums.org login is just another needless hassle.

At the very least you could remove your block from bugmenot.com. If you're going to give files out to anyone who asks, why make us jump through the hoops of registration? What is the point?

[KiwiNZ]

Its a very small ask to take advantage of our services.

As for the block on bugmenot.. no , we wont remove the block, it then becomes bugusyes and we end up with trolls and other pains in the butt.

[matthew]

In addition to what Kiwi said, leaving file downloads to signed in members also relieves some of the pressure off of our servers as it limits usage a bit and helps with overall performance. It is a small thing, but several small things like that add up to better resource usage optimization.

[Gokee2]

Its a very small ask to take advantage of our services.

As for the block on bugmenot.. no , we wont remove the block, it then becomes bugusyes and we end up with trolls and other pains in the butt.


I think the original poster does not want "services". All he wants is a file! So instead of letting a Linux user have the file you force him to go through a needless registration which he will most likely never use again.


In addition to what Kiwi said, leaving file downloads to signed in members also relieves some of the pressure off of our servers as it limits usage a bit and helps with overall performance. It is a small thing, but several small things like that add up to better resource usage optimization.

So for a little "resource usage optimization" you waste a bunch of Linux users time registering or finding the file elsewhere. Also ending up with a bunch of junk accounts on the system, I guess you can then say you have x many users.

Site registration is a big pain for very little gain on the users part. At least with bugmenot they would be able to save a few minutes. If you are worried about automated downloading you could always use a captcha.

[Greg]

I think the original poster does not want "services". All he wants is a file! So instead of letting a Linux user have the file you force him to go through a needless registration which he will most likely never use again.




So for a little "resource usage optimization" you waste a bunch of Linux users time registering or finding the file elsewhere. Also ending up with a bunch of junk accounts on the system, I guess you can then say you have x many users.

Site registration is a big pain for very little gain on the users part. At least with bugmenot they would be able to save a few minutes. If you are worried about automated downloading you could always use a captcha.

1) I'd say that providing a file to download is certainly a service.
2) This is hardly a small forum, and it's running on a very small number of servers for the amount of activity. The "little" resource usage optimization can be the difference between the site being up or not.

[kestrel1]

I think it is a small price to pay to want someone to register.
Lets face it the services that are provided on these forums are great & there is a real community at work here.
If you are not happy to register, you do not have to.

[p_quarles]

Site registration is a big pain for very little gain on the users part.
If it's such a small gain, then what's the fuss about? I would venture further to say that most files available for download here are likely to be available elsewhere as well, but the versions here will be linked from pages with higher search engine rankings.

So ultimately, registration on the part of the user is the small price they pay for the convenience of using this particular site. If it's less convenient than finding an alternate source for the file, so be it.

[boof1988]

I don't understand what files the OP is talking about. Can someone explain? Not that big of a deal... I'm just interested in understanding the discussion better.

Thanks.

[Rocket2DMn]

I think one of the big reasons is to prevent other websites from hotlinking. If files are freely available without registration, then any other site can essentially just use these forums for hosting files (like images) in order to save bandwidth. That could cause a lot of strain on the forum servers, and could end up inviting spam.

[matthew]

I don't understand what files the OP is talking about. Can someone explain? Not that big of a deal... I'm just interested in understanding the discussion better.

Thanks.
Forum members are permitted to attach files to their posts. Those attached files are only available to logged in forum members, not to the general public.

[boof1988]

Forum members are permitted to attach files to their posts. Those attached files are only available to logged in forum members, not to the general public.

Thanks for the clarification... I always log in so I haven't noticed this yet.

Thanks for the explanation.

[Gokee2]

1) I'd say that providing a file to download is certainly a service.

Sure, its ONE service. But its one people expect to have from sites without registering. At least its very annoying if they force you to register, this is the kind of thing bugmenot was created for!

2) This is hardly a small forum, and it's running on a very small number of servers for the amount of activity. The "little" resource usage optimization can be the difference between the site being up or not.

How big are most of the files? If it puts such a burden on the servers why not have a external download server for non-users? It could be one server for everyone and even if it had a rather slow download rate it would be a lot better then nothing. The ubuntu people are after all able to serve 700 MB cd images without problem to non-registering users.

I think one of the big reasons is to prevent other websites from hotlinking. If files are freely available without registration, then any other site can essentially just use these forums for hosting files (like images) in order to save bandwidth. That could cause a lot of strain on the forum servers, and could end up inviting spam.

Direct linking could turn into a problem but they could use captchas to make sure it was a real user. And if it is why not help him out by giving him a file? If he knows the ubuntu community gave him a file without charging for it he might feel better about ubuntu.

Gokee2

[-grubby]

Though registration may seem like a burden (I hate registering for sites that I'll only use once or twice, too), if you plan to use this site repeatedly, what's wrong with registering once and just downloading files whenever you need to?

I can see why Ubuntu Forums would want to make the files registration-only, though. They can (almost) guarantee a human is downloading it, or at least that the non-humans have to register first in order to download it, which is way past the capabilities of most spam bots not particularly targeting something.


The ubuntu people are after all able to serve 700 MB cd images without problem to non-registering users.


That's a different story. Ubuntu.com isn't a forum. Just look at some of the forums that don't require registration, like 4chan.org. It's a mess. Also, the Ubuntu iso downloads and Ubuntu Forums attachments are certainly not hosted on the same server.

[p_quarles]

Also, the Ubuntu iso downloads and Ubuntu Forums attachments are certainly not hosted on the same server.
Not only that, but there are hundreds of mirrors around the world. That wouldn't really work for a forum or any other dynamic content host.

[Gokee2]

Not only that, but there are hundreds of mirrors around the world. That wouldn't really work for a forum or any other dynamic content host.

Why can`t you put attachments on mirrors? They are not going to need near as many as the iso because demand would be rather small and the files are small. The files are not going to change (except for more being added). Once you get a file just add it to the mirror list under a unique name and link to it from the forum. The download does not even need to be available right from the get go, just updating the mirrors nightly would do. After all if the person is participating in the forum thread they would have a account anyway.

[Greg]

Why can`t you put attachments on mirrors? They are not going to need near as many as the iso because demand would be rather small and the files are small. The files are not going to change (except for more being added). Once you get a file just add it to the mirror list under a unique name and link to it from the forum. The download does not even need to be available right from the get go, just updating the mirrors nightly would do. After all if the person is participating in the forum thread they would have a account anyway.

From my (albeit limited) knowledge of vB forums, it'd be difficult to place attatchments on mirrors by the way the database handles it.

Personally, I'd think that it would be smartest to disable attatchmemts and post an official upload server or something similar, but when you're dealing with files uploaded as attatchments, it's definitely a tax on the server.

[Gokee2]

From my (albeit limited) knowledge of vB forums, it'd be difficult to place attatchments on mirrors by the way the database handles it.

Ah I see.


Personally, I'd think that it would be smartest to disable attatchmemts and post an official upload server or something similar, but when you're dealing with files uploaded as attatchments, it's definitely a tax on the server.

That sounds like a good idea.

[-grubby]

Why can`t you put attachments on mirrors?

Who's going to volunteer to mirror forum attachments?

[Gokee2]

Who's going to volunteer to mirror forum attachments?

That could be a problem but I bet if there was a message on the forum`s saying mirror`s wanted for file attachments there would be people willing to host.