Ubuntu For Free

Having been an Internet user for a long time, I am well versed with a few topics related to peer-to-peer file sharing using the torrent system. On Windows, I used uTorrent, and initially after my switch to Linux, I continued to use uTorrent, just because it used less memory than Azureus. Eventually, using applications under Wine became a problem. uTorrent would disappear… randomly.

I tried Azureus, and it ate more and more and more RAM.

I was happy when i switched from Ubuntu to Kubuntu, mostly because of the inclusion of kTorrent. While kTorrent is not on the whitelist of acceptable clients at some of my favorite trackers, it conveniently has an integrated interface where all torrents are easily available through one window in the same view. Compared to BitTornado, this is a relief for those like me who desire an easy to manage (note, not understand, but manage) interface.

A sophisticated plug-in interface for expandability provides a range of extensions created by open source developers. It already comes with several plug-ins, and many of the features I discuss will be implemented through a plug-in, for example the interface for UPnP connectivity is through an included plug-in.

Of note, I appreciate the UPnP support. This helps eliminate the messy configuration and hassle of adjusting a firewall/router.

It also allows us to schedule bandwidth limits, much the same way uTorrent does. This again is through a plug-in. It also provides a lo-fi version for systems with limited video capabilities. This is definitely something I use, just because of simplicity.
Another feature I haven not found as useful has been the integrated search engine. I have been disappointed with the implementation of this feature in torrent clients in the past, so I was interested in trying this. It works moderately well. I have not been able to browse to next pages of results when using the integrated browser, but it forces me to be more precise in my searches. Since I am capable of using a browser on my own, I have forgone attempting to use the external browser integration. Please leave me a comment and describe your experience with this, because if it works better I would be willing to try it.

We are able to manage our torrents in kTorrent from any web-enabled computer in the world via WebInterface. I use this for checking the status from my laptop. This is convenient when I don’t have a remote desktop connection open and quickly want to view my queue and statistics.

Because I take other precautions, the Integrated black list manager I have skipped using. I am not for certain why it needs duplicated here, because if this is your only protection, it applies to kTorrent only, and really lacks in effectiveness. For those that choose to use it, it does support wild cards. Otherwise it supports the use of two ipfilter list file formats.

I believe kTorrent will be a regular in my peer to peer tool box, but the client is only as good as what the tracker supports, which makes me need to use something else from time to time.

My first install of Ubuntu was Dapper Drake, and it was the original flavor, with the Gnome desktop. It included XChat, which seemed an easy transition from mIRC. Since I’d previously managed IRC connections using telnet, it wasn’t daunting. However, after switching to Kubuntu, I found myself presented with Konversation. It might have been my previous experience with mIRC, but I almost felt right at home.

In comparison to XChat, I feel it’s better at managing connections to multiple servers. The servers are spawned as separate tabs, where XChat *tried* to do it in a tree-like view, it failed and inserted the additional servers as child-nodes of the first-connected server.

Using bash scripts, we can make Konversation take action. It requires the DCOP protocol, a newer method permitting KDE applications to communicate between each other. Known as an Inter-Process Communication, DCOP providesthe ability to send DCOP messages to/from any other KDE app, allowing Konversation to integrate nicely with Amarok (i.e. to announce the “now-playing” track) and other KDE software (i.e. getting data from “weather” or sending/retrieving information with “kate”).

One of my favorite features, is the On-Screen Display, abbreviated as OSD. This feature provides a miniaturized display of text in a separate screen area. For example, we can see entire messages directed to us, even when Konversation is minimized, through the OSD, when Konversation is able to determine our nick.

You can also configure notifications, or specific actions when selected events occur, including pop up messages (optionally passive), sounds, shell commands, log insertions, etc.

I have plans for a couple of scripts for the application, so I think I’m going to try my hand coding something different.