For the computer illiterate out there, please don't go downloading malware posing as bittorrent clients.
Please don't use it to grab anything pirated unless you know what a VPN is and know which ones are trustworthy.
I'm on Linux, if you want a good multiplatform client, qBittorrent works well. (coincidentally it starts with a Q)
https://www.qbittorrent.org/download.php
For VPN's, please checkout Techlore's channel.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3KeV6Ui_4CYTOvbZrElePOSJZAUlx2Yr
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3KeV6Ui_4CaIhE8k4-plxS1-H9Cy3Qng
The idea is you want to download a large file. Doesn't matter what the file is. But that implies an expensive server somewhere running at 100% capacity if the file is popular.
Bit torrent allows the file to be broken into chunks. Somebody starts off with a full copy of the file ("seeding") but as that is downloaded and simultaneously shared by more and more people there are more and more sources from which your next chunk can be obtained, so taking the load off the original seeder.
Easy to install the software and then all you need is a pointer to the torrent.
Thanks, 007. That makes sense. But how does it work in terms of organization? If you get little chunks from a hundred different seeders, do they somehow download in order or are they are random mess? Thanks for answering.
Yes there is a tracker, I should have said. Like you want to download a book with 100 pages. You are continually asking people "who can give me page 17?" and people are continually asking you "do you have page 23 for me please?" Until everybody gets all 100 pages.
Oh, I see. Make sense. Thanks. I figured there had to be something like that.
I finally get it! Thank you 👌