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by 4AoZqrH2fsk5UB 1890 days ago
I've started torrenting again (did it a lot in the early 00s, but stopped like most others as streaming showed up in a big way). Honestly, once set up the experience is lovely.

- The catalog is enormous, you can almost always find what you want.

- There is robust software that can pull down the latest episode of the tv shows you want.

- There is similar software that can pull down movies based on public lists (e.g. IMDB top 100), so discovery is pretty great.

- All the above can be done on public trackers. Private trackers are even better.

- Many have a community of people who are into the content, and curate their own lists.

- There is software for a home media server so you can flip through all your content. Its also just one interface... no flipping through hulu/netflix/amazon/apple/google.

- That same home media server software can host all videos, so downloads from youtube, family videos, etc... all in one place as you see fit.

- I get to know that know one out there knows what I'm watching or when I'm watching it.

- Backup is easy, with offsite services running ~$0.005/gb/month, so pennies per movie per month. This way I know I'll always have it regardless of what happens with streaming services.

Getting it up and running takes some customization but it is _really_ great. I would gladly pay for such a service, even the typical ~$20/movie price.