A torrent is a torrent is a torrent ...right?

[jgf]

Having been to some sites that recommended not using bitcomet to d/l their files, and others which specify bitcomet as more reliable, I'm wondering what is the difference in these programs (and the numerous other torrent programs available). Why would bitcomet not work, or not work well, at a particular site?

[kluelos]

All of the major bittorrent clients work just fine with each other (which is, after all, the major business here - bittorrent is peer-to-peer, and most of its actual transfers are from one peer to another, this is where all the work gets done) and they all work with any torrent, can pick up where the other left off.

No client is notably better or faster than any other. If it were, we'd all be using it. You're merely choosing between the sets of extra features, of interfaces, of the combination of things that appeal most to your personal taste. You should try all of them, then go with the one that appeals to you most. Nothing says that you can't use two or three clients as it pleases you. (Do remember that they have to share your bandwidth, so you probably shouldn't use more than one at a time. You don't get something for nothing.)

For the most part, what you see at the various tracker sites is the remainder of a campaign to build traction for another client by spread FUD. It worked very well. There's still an amazing amount of this going around despite repeated debunking.

Since clients identify themselves, a site can choose to permit or ban particular clients or versions for some reason or no reason, as it suits them.

We try to indentify the reasons that a particular site gives for such a ban (which reason is very often just hearsay ("everybody" knows that BitComet does so&so) and demonstrable falsehood), and we attempt to reason with the owner. Most times this works and the site unbans the client. (Occasionally one will concede that they've been wrong about this all along, but that's very rare. We'll settle for just getting the client allowed now.)

Other times it doesn't work, they aren't willing to listen, sometimes not even to discuss it, and what you have then is a site owner who is not amenable to reason. You can either not use that site, or find a client that it does permit, so you can use this site whose owner isn't amenable to reason. If that's what you want to do. Hope you never get into a disagreement with him about anything, because he's not amenable to reason.

[jgf]

As I suspected. I did try other programs in the past (so long ago I don't remember which ones they were) but stuck with bitcomet because, as you said, it worked for me. I see no need to have multiple torrent programs; if one site won't cooperate with my program there are plenty of sites that will.