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The PC is Dead: It’s Time to Make Computing Personal Again
(www.vintagecomputing.com)
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this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2025
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Technology
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I really like self -hosting, and some great concepts are coming out of containerization, but I also feel like the next generation are being fed a steady stream of "Rent, lease, stream" to such an extent that kids I know literally don't understand files on their computer, only cloud connected apps and content. I kind of wish there was a philosophy of tech course that made people carefully consider some of the trade-offs we're constantly making with the big five.
This is true.
My 14 yr brother was using stock android on one of the old phones and I flashed lineage os on it with Android 14. The UI was a major upgrade and home screen looked very modern on an old phone.
The very first thing he did was install instagram and YouTube to watch reels and shorts.
I asked him if he finds anything different and he says he does not find anything different.
New generation isn't even aware of the Android os they just straight go to SM to consume short video content.
Meanwhile I got my 3 year old daughter playing educational flash games on the PC like a good Millenial.
She even knows how to get her video files playing on VLC.
good parent.
It really baffles me when I hear about "pirate streaming sites" being taken down. Why are those even a thing? If you're into piracy already, why not download a copy?
Not everyone can afford a laptop or a computer and torrenting is a pain in this ass on a phone with low storage.
I mean, keeping copies is actually pretty stupid and wasteful for most people. Most only watch things once but still keep the copy around taking up space for no good reason other than because they can. Why waste storage on things you don't really have a need for? That's just hoarding...
That said, I'm still the type of person who keeps things around just in case I want to watch it again...but if I'm being honest, I probably don't need to store ~80% of my library though.
I'll mention it here, since nobody did for some reason, but torrenting is sustainable so long as people keep the files and reseed. So keeping a copy is not the end-goal of people using torrenting technology, but a necessary part of the process.
The goal, functionally, is still streaming. (So much so I used to set the torrent to download the file progressively and run the incomplete file in VLC, watching it while it was getting completed).
What keeps me away from streaming site is that I'm confused about how they sustain themselves. Aren't the costs giganormous to constantly be streaming stuff around?
I think they're just doing it the same way you do TBH, they just force sequential download of a torrent and allow their users to watch as it downloads as a normal torrent, but then auto-deletes content as it goes as well. That way they don't need to have a massive back end to handle the streaming since it's done like regular P2P torrenting and handled entirely in the client side.
That's what steaming is (temporarily downloading), but if I'm not seeding, and neither are my fellow consumers, there's no "peer-to-peer" to speak of.
Yes it is 100% leeching on the people that do download and store files, I never said it wasn't, I merely explained how they managed without massive OPEX. Yes these services only work as long as some people keep files and seed, that's also why they suck for things than are >1 year old.
I'm not sure I understand.
The users go to a streaming site, they look for a movie, they click the clicks, they watch the movie, they close the browser, the temporary files are deleted.
What downloads? What stored files?
It uses a torrent file to download parts (temporarily) just like you use the same torrent to permanently download and seed. Only difference is they (the client/user) never keep the files for seeding, no different than if you downloaded, watched, and then deleted the file and torrent from your client.
Oh I see what you mean now. That would be seed-and-run.
That's unethical as far as pirating goes...
Yes, but that doesn't mean much to most people using public trackers to permanently download either so...
For the longest time in the EU streaming was not considered illegal on the users end, as long as he is not collecting a big enough part of the file, wheras downloading was illegal already.
To me, mostly convenience. I do that with anime and, if the show doesn't grab my attention by halfway of the first episode, I won't feel like I wasted extra time waiting for the full episode to be downloaded only to decide that nah, not worth it.
Why do i want a copy of something I am only going to watch once? And why should I keep a copy if I can just stream it again from the same or some different site for free in the future?
Streaming is just more practical. Doesn't matter if its legal or piracy
Edit to clarify: I am not saying this opinion is good, it is an example of how many people think and the reason why pirate streaming sites exist
That's a big if depending on the media in question, and the effort required to go find it again.
I've had so many instances where a streaming site takes down the movie or show I was planning on watching with one or both of my partners, only to have it not there and either have to waste an hour trying to find it again or figure out something else to watch.
Spinning rust drives are cheaper than the time I spend looking for something or being annoyed at having my plans derailed. Plus, I've used that more than once to make up for streaming site/content missing issues during get together with friends, so it's more than worth it to me.
you're downloading a copy no matter which way you do it, you're just tossing the copy as you download it with the streaming method
aside from the wastefulness of downloading the exact same thing multiple times, the source might vanish leaving you with nowhere to stream it from again
Delete it when you're done if you never want to watch it again.
I thought you just said you wouldn't want to watch it again?
Obviously there are people who do watch pirate streams. I'm just pointing out how odd it is in the context of this thread, where people are complaining about dependency on outside resources, and how alien it is to my personal approach to this kind of thing.
@groet @FaceDeer if you likenthe service you should help mantaining it...
Most people here use those because it's easier than torrenting.
Sports is a big one that comes to mind. Or competition shows people want to live vote for.
I'm a big self-hoster and had been using the *arr stack for years, and manual torrenting before that, all the way back to XBMC.
Last year I finally got around to trying real-debrid, and it was so convenient I dumped everything else. Now I only torrent for music and ebooks.
It's just so effortless to use 🤷