Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Is it bad to download Torrents on your mac?
- Thread starter ldalt2
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Is it bad for your mac? No. Is it bad for your morals? Something you'll have to ask yourself.
To download a torrent isn't in and of itself illegal. If the content of the torrent is copyrighted then you've entered muddy waters. So if you're downloading legal content you're good, otherwise, see i.Feature's post.
Torrents themselves shouldn't cause any problems. Sometimes they tend to work a laptop pretty hard though, so if you torrent overnight, make sure to prop up the laptop so it stays cool.
I swear by Azureus, but there are a bunch of other good clients out there too. Many routers also clog out when they try to upload too much, so capping the upload rate to <40, or using the automatic throttling may help.
Just be careful WHAT you download, legit stuff like Linux ISOs and WoW patches are no trouble, media content is a gray area. In most places uploading copyrighted works is infringement (a civil offense, not criminal, still "bad"). If a copyright holder finds out that you're infringing, they can sue, threaten to sue, or do nothing. If they send a letter to your ISP then you may have your service cut off, or you may get a warning. It seems to depend on a lot of factors.
The general advice is "don't torrent copyrighted material" .... although other people may tell you different.
I swear by Azureus, but there are a bunch of other good clients out there too. Many routers also clog out when they try to upload too much, so capping the upload rate to <40, or using the automatic throttling may help.
Just be careful WHAT you download, legit stuff like Linux ISOs and WoW patches are no trouble, media content is a gray area. In most places uploading copyrighted works is infringement (a civil offense, not criminal, still "bad"). If a copyright holder finds out that you're infringing, they can sue, threaten to sue, or do nothing. If they send a letter to your ISP then you may have your service cut off, or you may get a warning. It seems to depend on a lot of factors.
The general advice is "don't torrent copyrighted material" .... although other people may tell you different.
i used to download torrents on a regular basis on my iMac G4. but, it did seem to cause drive problems. and the first kernal panic i ever saw was while trying to initiate a download. i think it works, its just a dirty process for your hard drive.
What kind of drive problems were you having? I have been torrenting for years now, on various computers, and have never experienced any problems with the computer during or after downloading something via torrent.
I don't think he's being serious about the kernal panic, more so he's just trying to prove the point that torrents are bad.
Well, if you're in the US, and use Comcast, they just started capping the your ability to both connect to peers and seed. Check Digg for the latest news on it, but Comcast just really struck the hammer down.
Even for people who use BitTorrent for legitimate purposes (WoW patch downloads, etc.), this really sucks. Sure wish we had Verizon FiOS here in MN so I could dump this trash they call Comcast. 6 mb/down? Sure, until you download close to the real speed you are paying for...
Even for people who use BitTorrent for legitimate purposes (WoW patch downloads, etc.), this really sucks. Sure wish we had Verizon FiOS here in MN
so I could dump this trash they call Comcast. 6 mb/down? Sure, until you download close to the real speed you are paying for...
no its not bad,thats how smart people get free apps,music,movies and whatever they need...mac are already expensive why do we have to pay for software?! ..
and btw it canNOT hurt your computer as you have a Mac...all viruses that MIGHT be in a torrent are only for pc..so never mind if someone says its bad for computer..they are lying so you dont do something illegal,do you care?!
and btw it canNOT hurt your computer as you have a Mac...all viruses that MIGHT be in a torrent are only for pc..so never mind if someone says its bad for computer..they are lying so you dont do something illegal,do you care?!
*sniff sniff* i smell a moderator hovering on the "lock" button for the thread and the "edit" button for your post. and for the record. its how pirates get those things. smart people have jobs and can afford to pay for them, and/or wait until they can afford them.
no, he's up at night scouring torrent sites for ÜberGreatSoftwareAppNextGen release 4.5 because it just came out, and well that means he has to have it.
well im not really serious,but most guys my age do torrents i bet XP
i do have a job,i get a good sallary and i work hard,so im not gonig to trash that money on softwares honestly....its my opinion..like it cool..dont like it ? i dont care.. =D
i do have a job,i get a good sallary and i work hard,so im not gonig to trash that money on softwares honestly....its my opinion..like it cool..dont like it ? i dont care..
=D
I'm not going to lie and say that I've never pirated any music or software, but I make a point of buying software (in particular those great 3rd party apps widely available for macs) because I figure that developers have earned my money for their software.
No. .torrent files aren't more 'bad' (worse) than a .jpg file.
Now you may be asking about downloading the files using a BitTorrent client. In which case the answer depends on where you're getting the files, what you are downloading, if you're also uploading, etc.
Download torrent files to an external hard drive to reduce the wear and tear on your system hard drive so you don't worry about this question.
well im not really serious,but most guys my age do torrents i bet XP
i do have a job,i get a good sallary and i work hard,so im not gonig to trash that money on softwares honestly....its my opinion..like it cool..dont like it ? i dont care..
The developers of software also work hard, have families, and most get good salaries.
Do they not deserve to be paid for their time just as you do?
In a small start up company, you could be taking dollars directly out of the hands of the software developers.
In the larger companies, software piracy leads to reduced income, which leads to cost cutting, which leads to lay offs, and now the programmers who design and develop the software we use can't feed their families.
if you don't believe there is a direct cause and effect to software theft you are deluding yourself.
True dat. Although I have downloaded pirated software to see how well it can work before i decided to purchase it cause they didn't have a trial version just to give me a better peace at mind
Not that the other parts of your post is going to win any Pulitzers, but your home directory isn't invincible.
His home directory, and any other part of his disk, is perfectly impervious to any and all available viruses today. There are no viruses in the wild that affect OSX.
Objectivist-C already posted a prototypical "virus", so I'll just point and laugh at your OS hubris instead.
If you actively run something there really isn't anything stopping that program from wrecking havoc in your home directory (ie. messing with the only important files on your harddrive).