wes wrote: > On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 8:27 AM, Michael M. Moore > <[email protected]>wrote: >> You're right, the DVD ISO torrent is a different one -- didn't catch >> that. The way the information is presented implies (to me, anyway) that >> one should be able to download the PDF directly -- it says "Download >> high-res PDF (124MB)". But I guess you can't. It's only 4:26 pm >> 2009-03-04 GMT, so the offer shouldn't have lapsed yet. > > Guess that depends on your definition of "directly" - you can download it > via BitTorrent, which is arguably more or less as "direct" as via HTTP. It's > a big file, and bandwidth is expensive.
Ok, time for pedantry. A torrent is a means to an end, not the end itself. The end, in this case, is a PDF. In that context, a torrent is arguably an "indirect" method of obtaining the PDF. My definition of "directly" is when a web page indicates "click here to download a 124MB file," then one will click to download a 124MB file, not a 10k file. Truth in advertising. On Linux Torrents, it's clear that you are downloading a torrent, which you then use to obtain whatever distro you're after. You would to there only when you *want* a torrent. On Debian's website, it's clear that you can download -- directly from Debian's mirrors -- a 150MB netinstall iso that will be a 150MB download, or a 700MB iso that will be a 700MB download, or a 4.6GB DVD image that will be a 4.6GB download, or one of various torrents you can use to obtain those. The torrents, obviously, will be much smaller downloads. The end result will be the same after you load the torrent in your torrent application, but the method is different. I don't fault them for using BitTorrent -- the more the merrier. It's smart. I just think they should say, explicitly, what it is you are about to download when you click. Websites have a grammar about them, beyond the grammar of the language they're written in. This instance violates that grammar. And, of course, that's when we grammar Nazi's come out of hiding, because someone has to save the world from chaos and anarchy. Michael M. _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
