From Reddit saved comment — r/explainlikeimfive, u/Me66, May 22 2013 https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1et8wd/eli5what_is_usenet_and_why_should_i_be_using_it/ca3nb6s/ Comment on: ELI5:What is usenet and why should i be using it rather than torrents? Usenet is well explained in prior posts so let me tell you a bit about how it's different from torrents. Usenet is a lot of things so I'll just focus on the part thats relevant when compared to torrents. **Downloading** As you probably know, to download something with torrents you need a program called a "Bittorrent client" and a place to find the torrent files which points to the files you want to download. Usenet downloading is pretty much identical when it comes to this, you need a program to download files and a place to get the files which point to what you want to download. The difference here is that you need a program made for Usenet and not bittorrent and you need files called nzb files rather than torrents. How the files are downloaded is also a bit different. When you use bittorrent you are connecting to many other bittorrent users and downloading the files you want from them. At the same time you also share the pieces of the files with others, this means you both download and upload the files you are getting at the same time, everyone helps each other to complete the downloads. Someone also needs to have the complete original file and be sharing it in order for you to be able to get it. When you are downloading with usenet you are connecting your software to a server which holds all the files you want. The nzb file points to all the individual files you want on the server. The biggest difference is that you are not downloading from other people and helping each other out, you are simply downloading the files from a server. This means you don't have to upload anything (other than simple instructions) to the server. **Speed** One of the things Usenet is best at is speed. The good servers will usually be as fast as your network can be so downloads are very quick, since you don't have to upload files at the same time you will also save network speed here. You are not dependant on other people with poor internet connections to share the files and most good usenet providers can give full speed almost anywhere on Earth. Usenet is a clear winner here, but you might not be able to afford to have full speed because Usenet often costs money, sometimes that means you could get better speed with torrents. **Price** This is one of Usenets biggest problems when compared to bittorrent. Since all the files are on servers owned by companies; Usenet usually must be paid for. There are some free options and some Internet Providers offer usenet plans, but these are usually very limited in speed and the amount of files they have availible. The prices vary a lot depending on how long you want servers to keep files, how fast you can download, how secure the download is, and how much you can download each month. **Retention** Retention is a fancy word which means how long a usenet server keeps files. Most usenet servers can't keep files forever since they have a limited amount of space to save them and so many files are added each day that they have to delete the old ones. This has become less of a problem the last few years as usenet servers now usually keep files for several years. It might sound bad that the servers delete the files, but all thats needed to get the file back is for someone to upload it to the server again and it will stay for as long as the server keeps them. This compares favorably to torrents because many old torrents gets forgotten and unsupported by people so you can't download them at all. Another problem with usenet that bittorrent doesn't have though is that the files are vulnerable to people who wants them removed. A file can never be forced away from bittorrent because anyone can just keep sharing it, but if a file is deleted from usenet intentionally it can be very hard to get back. This has become a bigger problem the last couple of years. **Security** One of the worst problems with bittorrent is the lack of security. Since everyone is downloading from everyone only the most advanced and careful of users protect themselves against people who are out to get them or to punish them. You can use some systems on bittorrent to protect yourself, but these are usually either expensive or they slow down your download speed a lot. Most Usenet servers have great security to protect yourself with and they can even hide what you are downloading. Since you are downloading from a specific server rather than from everyone you also avoid sharing your network address with other people which is a big plus. On the other hand a usenet server is only as secure as the company that owns it and that is something you should keep in mind. **Conclusion** There are several more factors to consider when picking between usenet and bittorrent. Both have good and bad sides. I personally prefer usenet for it's speed and security, but often things I want are missing and I use bittorrent to get them. Many usenet companies offer free trails which lets you try out their service for free before paying which is a good idea to do. ****** Edit: Wow thanks to the anonymous gifter for the gold! Never had it before. I'm already hanging out in the lounge and eagerly awaiting someone to /u/ reference me. :D