6 ms·

Well you'd really have to be crazy to try and torrent stuff on a Windows machine nowadays anyways. That's just getting on your knees and begging for malware. Ma

Well you'd really have to be crazy to try and torrent stuff on a Windows machine nowadays anyways. That's just getting on your knees and begging for malware. Maybe this will help some of the more savvy users realize that Windows should be relegated to a virtual machine for when you need a specific Windows app that doesn't run under Wine, and never given access to real hardware. I only use my Win10 VM for compiling stuff with MSVC that refuses to build with MinGW.

smcl 5y ago
You mean the act of torrenting on its own would cause you to fall victim to malware, or that the process of finding a torrent via certain sites would do so?
- Subsentient 5y ago
  Both. Plenty of malware-infested executables in torrents.
  - mtone 5y ago
    Instead, just don't run executables from untrusted sources. Torrents, email, mobile apps (like that fake banking iOS app that looks like the legit one) or otherwise. The transport method doesn't matter much.
  - smcl 5y ago
    So of course double-clicking Band.of.Brothers.mkv.exe will cause you to have a bad time. But I'm curious why just having a torrent client downloading something would cause anyone to get compromised. I haven't heard of this.
prepend 5y ago
Not sure what you mean as I’ve used reputable tracker sites without any malware for many years. As for downloading random torrents off I trusted sites, that seems about as smart as random exes.
l30n4da5 5y ago
>> Maybe this will help some of the more savvy users realize that Windows should be relegated to a virtual machine for when you need a specific Windows app that doesn't run under Wine, and never given access to real hardware. hurr durr windows bad linux good im so smart. you're practically _soaked_ with condescending smarm. Caureful, or it'll rub off on innocent bystanders.
- Subsentient 5y ago
  Windows is the dominant operating system, and as such has a giant target on its back. It's true, I despise Windows, but the risk of torrenting on Linux vs the risk of torrenting on Windows is quite a huge difference. And look, Microsoft has been user-hostile for years now, the fact is, this kind of behavior from them doesn't surprise me anymore, and I'm tired of watching people take those punches lying down.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
    Windows is definitely more user-hostile than it has been in the past, and seems to be becoming more so[0], but honestly I'll still take Windows over a Linux Desktop any day because it works in a way that is much more in line with how I want my computer to work. Your attitude seems to very much be "you're an idiot for still using Windows and Linux is great", which is condescending as hell. [0] I am by no means defending this behavior. In fact, I hate it and kinda want to beat certain people at Microsoft with a rubber hose over it.
    - Subsentient 5y ago
      Ahh, well no. I don't think Windows users are idiots. I think they're normal, non-technical people who don't want to drop to a terminal to pair their bluetooth earbuds because the BlueZ GUI was written in an afternoon by some rando and never worked right. But I do admit that for programmers, I don't understand why they'd want to still use Windows. I mean obviously there's reasons, but they're totally beyond me. Seems like masochism.
finalis 5y ago
You sound like the kind of person who would report this page as suspicious: https://torrent.ubuntu.com/tracker_index https://torrent.ubuntu.com/tracker_index
thrower123 5y ago
That's just complete nonsense. There's nothing inherently dangerous about torrenting on Windows, assuming you're not a moron who indiscriminately downloads warez. It's still relatively common for large files to be distributed as torrents, like game mods or Linux images.
JohnWhigham 5y ago
That's just getting on your knees and begging for malware. We're not in 2007 anymore.
- Subsentient 5y ago
  You'll keep thinking that until you pirate a copy of Adobe Shitware 2077(tm) and it works fine for a day until the embedded cryptolocker activates and holds everything on your system hostage for 3 bitcoin.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
    If you ran Linux executables you torrented you'd have the exact same problem.
    - Subsentient 5y ago
      Yeah, but less likely frankly, because it's less likely the malware author would take the time to make a ransomware for Linux, though I know it's happened before. 1% of the market vs 80% of the market, which would you target? And of course, utilities being free on Linux negates the need almost entirely in any case.
      - AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
        Right, so the problem isn't really because "Windows is a bad OS, m'kay", it's because Windows is popular... why might that be, I wonder? Maybe people like using it more...
        phendrenad2 5y ago
        Yeah this type of argument always contradicts itself. "Use Linux because it doesn't have viruses". Why doesn't it have viruses? "It's not popular enough". So by suggesting Linux, thus making it more popular, you're increasing the risk of viruses?
      - 5y ago
K5EiS 5y ago
Do you use a VM to download everything? Malware exists outside of torrents.
xc468 5y ago
Any pirate worth their salt knows how to avoid malware - reputable and/or private trackers. If needed, throw the executable into VirusTotal, otherwise if you're worried about bespoke FUD malware, you've already lost regardless of OS.

smcl 5y ago

You mean the act of torrenting on its own would cause you to fall victim to malware, or that the process of finding a torrent via certain sites would do so?

Subsentient 5y ago
Both. Plenty of malware-infested executables in torrents.
- mtone 5y ago
  Instead, just don't run executables from untrusted sources. Torrents, email, mobile apps (like that fake banking iOS app that looks like the legit one) or otherwise. The transport method doesn't matter much.
- smcl 5y ago
  So of course double-clicking Band.of.Brothers.mkv.exe will cause you to have a bad time. But I'm curious why just having a torrent client downloading something would cause anyone to get compromised. I haven't heard of this.

prepend 5y ago

Not sure what you mean as I’ve used reputable tracker sites without any malware for many years. As for downloading random torrents off I trusted sites, that seems about as smart as random exes.

l30n4da5 5y ago

>> Maybe this will help some of the more savvy users realize that Windows should be relegated to a virtual machine for when you need a specific Windows app that doesn't run under Wine, and never given access to real hardware. hurr durr windows bad linux good im so smart. you're practically _soaked_ with condescending smarm. Caureful, or it'll rub off on innocent bystanders.

Subsentient 5y ago
Windows is the dominant operating system, and as such has a giant target on its back. It's true, I despise Windows, but the risk of torrenting on Linux vs the risk of torrenting on Windows is quite a huge difference. And look, Microsoft has been user-hostile for years now, the fact is, this kind of behavior from them doesn't surprise me anymore, and I'm tired of watching people take those punches lying down.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
  Windows is definitely more user-hostile than it has been in the past, and seems to be becoming more so[0], but honestly I'll still take Windows over a Linux Desktop any day because it works in a way that is much more in line with how I want my computer to work. Your attitude seems to very much be "you're an idiot for still using Windows and Linux is great", which is condescending as hell. [0] I am by no means defending this behavior. In fact, I hate it and kinda want to beat certain people at Microsoft with a rubber hose over it.
  - Subsentient 5y ago
    Ahh, well no. I don't think Windows users are idiots. I think they're normal, non-technical people who don't want to drop to a terminal to pair their bluetooth earbuds because the BlueZ GUI was written in an afternoon by some rando and never worked right. But I do admit that for programmers, I don't understand why they'd want to still use Windows. I mean obviously there's reasons, but they're totally beyond me. Seems like masochism.

finalis 5y ago

You sound like the kind of person who would report this page as suspicious: https://torrent.ubuntu.com/tracker_index https://torrent.ubuntu.com/tracker_index

thrower123 5y ago

That's just complete nonsense. There's nothing inherently dangerous about torrenting on Windows, assuming you're not a moron who indiscriminately downloads warez. It's still relatively common for large files to be distributed as torrents, like game mods or Linux images.

JohnWhigham 5y ago

That's just getting on your knees and begging for malware. We're not in 2007 anymore.

Subsentient 5y ago
You'll keep thinking that until you pirate a copy of Adobe Shitware 2077(tm) and it works fine for a day until the embedded cryptolocker activates and holds everything on your system hostage for 3 bitcoin.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
  If you ran Linux executables you torrented you'd have the exact same problem.
  - Subsentient 5y ago
    Yeah, but less likely frankly, because it's less likely the malware author would take the time to make a ransomware for Linux, though I know it's happened before. 1% of the market vs 80% of the market, which would you target? And of course, utilities being free on Linux negates the need almost entirely in any case.
    - AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
      Right, so the problem isn't really because "Windows is a bad OS, m'kay", it's because Windows is popular... why might that be, I wonder? Maybe people like using it more...
      - phendrenad2 5y ago
        Yeah this type of argument always contradicts itself. "Use Linux because it doesn't have viruses". Why doesn't it have viruses? "It's not popular enough". So by suggesting Linux, thus making it more popular, you're increasing the risk of viruses?
    - 5y ago

K5EiS 5y ago

Do you use a VM to download everything? Malware exists outside of torrents.

xc468 5y ago

Any pirate worth their salt knows how to avoid malware - reputable and/or private trackers. If needed, throw the executable into VirusTotal, otherwise if you're worried about bespoke FUD malware, you've already lost regardless of OS.