Why isn't there more emphasis on seeding Ubuntu?

[njee]

Hello all, apologies if this has been discussed before but I was curious about the number of people seeding (X)ubuntu torrents.

First of all let me say that I think the seed ratios of ubuntu torrents are fantastic, as soon as I join I can max out my connection speed by connecting to the numerous seeder on the torrent. Having said that as soon as I'm seeding my uploads bandwith stays consistently maxed out as well.

Not everyone can use bittorrent, especially in university/corporate environments. Granted Ubuntu has a lot of mirrors and the price of data transfer is declining, but Ubuntu's bandwidth bill must be pretty steep. I'm surprised there isn't more of an emphasis on seeding from users to take some of pressure off Canonical.

Should there be? It strikes me as a pretty simple and low-cost way to give something back to the community. Some people have to pay for uploads but the majority I think have unlimited uploads allocations.

There are 108 people seeding Kubuntu Edgy at the moment. I'm quite certain this is a really small proportion of the number of Kubuntu Edgy users. Not everyone can afford to seed/be connected to the net all the time/leaves their computer on all the time but I'm equally as sure there a large number of people who could and it has never occurred to them; I never gave it a thought until a few months ago, after 1 1/2 years of Kubuntu.

Maybe I'm way off base on this. Are people with very fast internet connections able to max out their downloads speeds when they connect to a torrent? Do the majority of people use bittorrent instead of Canonical's mirrors?

In conclusion, should bittorrent seeding be promoted more as one of the ways to contribute or rather assist Ubuntu? If so, which torrents are most helpful to be circulated? Obviously the main release variants but what about DVD releases? Alphas? Dailies?

Any thoughts?

[Kateikyoushi]

I think I got to 3MB download speed only once in my life with BT and get 7MB from the UNI so no, I can't get more than a fragment of the max via BT.
I have been seeding for a while when edgy came out but not many people download in my vicinity so my upload speed is greatly reduced, but indeed I loose nothing except for the space what the iso takes up on the drive. I will check which torrent needs seeds.

[rai4shu2]

There's nothing more fair on the internet than bittorrent. If something isn't being seeded, maybe you should consider what that *really* means.

[njee]

I think I see your point, I just find it a little strange. The biggest endorsement I've seen is a small note on the download Ubuntu page that say "please download using bittorrent if possible".

Even with a multimillionair bankrolling the project, Canonical has always been aiming for profitability and sustainability. I can't understand why they aren't trying to harness one of the biggest resources a large community like this has. If they listed it on the "help Ubuntu" page we'd see a vast improvement in the speed of the swarm, maybe enough to make it the best option in terms of speed for people like Kateikyoushi.

[gimfred]

You are right, I had only just thought of it myself... sad sad world.

[john_spiral]

why not set-up a howto on how to seed x/u/k/..buntu?

[Polygon]

the ubuntu torrents are always the most well seeded torrents i have ever seen. I connect to like 500 people and i max out my download speed when im downloading a ubuntu torrent....always

i dont think there is a need to tell people to seed, they are already doing it.

[izanbardprince]

the ubuntu torrents are always the most well seeded torrents i have ever seen. I connect to like 500 people and i max out my download speed when im downloading a ubuntu torrent....always

i dont think there is a need to tell people to seed, they are already doing it.

He meant seeders for Xubuntu, which is good for computers with less RAM, but if you have 512 megs or more, I'd just use GNOME cause XFCE doesn't save you enough to be worth puting up with it's rather minimalistic GUI.

[gimfred]

I've always had terrible torrents from Ubuntu, but then I'm in Australia. Shouldn't affect it, but it does. Takes weeks to download isos. Torrents from other sources go reasonably quickly. (comparable sizes btw.) Downloading Gutsy Gibbon (K) D/L: .2kbps; U/L: 6.4kbps :s

[Spr0k3t]

I seed all of the latest revisions of Ubuntu for as many months as I can. What I find interesting though, I've uploaded the 386 torrent 37 times. The alternate install disc for 386 has been uploaded 43 times. The 64bit disc at 17 times. The server disc only four times. Xubuntu and Kubuntu about equal at 12 times.

I encourage anyone who can to seed the torrents of the official releases. I average about 37KB/s up. I know it's not much, but it contributes to the greater good.

[Sayers]

I find the torrents faster, plus yes, I dont seed because I wont really help, no body will be pulling from me.

[gimfred]

I find the torrents faster, plus yes, I don't seed because I wont really help, no body will be pulling from me.
You don't know that. Please, seed. There may be someone close to you that is trying to download.

[Mr. T]

I never download Linux isos from torrents. I use my ISP, which provides direct download links which are very fast and are quota-free (for all the Australians out there who know how important it is to conserve quota).

[wolfen69]

i'll seed some things for weeks, if it's in demand. i try to give back at least 5 or 6 copies. it's the right thing to do.

[aspro]

Torrents wouldn't be very important to Canonical as they already have an extensive system of mirrors. Overall downloading from a mirror close to you would be better than bittorrent purely because the overheads involved are smaller. Less overheads means less data needs to traverse the internet to get you your ISO, making the internets that little bit faster :).

So I'd say use bittorrent only if your local mirror isn't very local or is slow.