It was so easy when I was growing up. I would just type my search into LimeWire and if it turned out to be weird porn I would delete it. Then we had The Pirate Bay, and I could go through reviews to see whether something was a virus or not. Now all public sites I am aware of are riddled with viruses, and I am warned that attempting to download any of them will result in me receiving threatening letters from copyrights holders in the post.

Here is what I have discovered today, trying to pirate things again:

  • The safest thing you can do is direct download from file share websites, but nobody says where these websites are.
  • If you want to torrent files, you need to subscribe to an exclusive private tracker. To get access to a private tracker, you need to get lucky, or you need to go through a painstaking process of levelling up over months and months of seeding torrents from semi-private trackers until you get to an actual good one that may or may not have the content you are looking for.
  • If you don’t want to do this, you need to pay for a UseNet provider, then you need to register for a similarly exclusive UseNet index service, probably paid as well. There is no guarantee you will find what you are looking for on here either, and there is a chance that your download will fail.
  • Whether you are using torrents or UseNet, you need a service to help you find the content in the first place, for example Sonarr, Radarr or Lidarr. Something called Jackett also fits into this somehow and apparently links to whatever indexes you are using.
  • If you are torrenting, you then need a torrent client such as qBitTorrent to actually get the files.
  • If you are using UseNet, you need a UseNet downloader such as jdownloader.
  • Alternatively, for either option you can pay for a Debrid service such as Real-Debrid or Premiumize to download the files for you, if you send them the links. Besides protecting your privacy and your bandwidth, these services are also great for bypassing the limits on the elusive direct download sites nobody can tell me any more about.

I don’t really think of myself as a stupid person but this shit is so confusing. It is harder than paying for drugs on the dark web with illegal crypto currency. Am I nearly there? Is this everything? If I pay for a UseNet provider and somehow register for a UseNet index, is it as simple as connecting the two together to something such as Sonarr to find the content and jdownloader to get it?

I just wanna have my own home streaming service.

  • GravitySpoiled@lemmy.ml
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    9 months ago

    The problem you describe is that there are a hundred working ways. Each path works but you have to find it and take it.

    Imo, you can reduce the list to:

    how to pirate movies as a beginner

    1. Setup vpn
    2. Install qbittorrent
    3. Visit a tracker like 1337x.to
    4. Download and enjoy

    How to pirate movies as a pro

    1. Read about torrents
    2. Setup vpn
    3. Setup docker
    4. Setup prowlarr
    5. Setup gluetun
    6. setup qbittorrent
    7. Find a tracker, any tracker, and add it to prowlarr
    8. Search for something on prowlarr and be happy
    9. Add another tracker
    10. Setup radarr
    11. Setup jellyfin
    12. Setup nginx proxy manager traefik
    • Zozano@lemy.lol
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      9 months ago

      What are gluetun and npm used for? I did a quick search but I don’t really understand the purpose.

      • GravitySpoiled@lemmy.ml
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        9 months ago

        Gluetun ensures that the containers are properly connected to the vpn and that port forwarding is enabled which can be a pain in the ass.

        Npm = nginxproxymanager, it forwards external requests to the right port where the containers are such that you can reach your jellyfin instance on your selfhosted/rented server

        • xenspidey@lemmy.zip
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          9 months ago

          Yeah, npm might not be a great abbreviation for that. npm = node package manager, which is big in node.js and javascript.

            • Zozano@lemy.lol
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              9 months ago

              What do you mean properly?

              My home server isn’t remotely accessible if that’s what you’re asking.

              But there are no DNS leaks and all my containers work fine.

              (Forgive my ineptitude, I’m still new to advanced networking and home servers in general)

              I see the difference is Gluetun is used to route some traffic through the VPN. I don’t have a need for that, so I use the script to route all my traffic through the VPN.

                • Zozano@lemy.lol
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                  9 months ago

                  Yeah I torrent, I haven’t manually configured any ports though. IP is hidden according to iknowwhatyoudownloaded

                  • GravitySpoiled@lemmy.ml
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                    9 months ago

                    In case you ecncounter difficulties to find peers then it’s because of ports. You’ll find more peers with open ports and port forwarding of a vpn. It’s a bad limitation of the protocoll, imo. I2p may solve it when we switch to it (if we ever switch to it).

      • CronyAkatsuki@lemmy.cronyakatsuki.xyz
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        9 months ago

        I moved to usenet, seted up a few good indexers and providers and the experience is 1000x better and easier than trying to get into any kind of private trackers.

        • GravitySpoiled@lemmy.ml
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          9 months ago

          You have to fill out an application form to get into a private tracker. Literally just a couple of sentences about your torrent experience, why you want to join, etc. You can copy paste that paragraph and send it to 10 trackers.

          What did you write that you were not accepted?

          • CronyAkatsuki@lemmy.cronyakatsuki.xyz
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            9 months ago

            I didn’t bother applying, mostly because I don’t look for contant stream of media, and the fact I would then need to managage my seed ratio.

            Not interested in all that, plus I’m very limited on storage, and not can’t upgrade it cause it’s too expensive here either way.

            Usenet is just better for my usecase.

            • GravitySpoiled@lemmy.ml
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              9 months ago

              It’s not difficult to get into one.

              And Seed ratio is only a problem for newbies without history.

              Sounds like prejudices, tbo.

              • CronyAkatsuki@lemmy.cronyakatsuki.xyz
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                9 months ago

                i don’t have history either man. Every private tracker I tried applying to wanted atleast proof of good seed ration from 2 other private trackers also. Which I don’t have I never tou hed private trackers before.

                And either way I don’t have disk space to keep torrent’s around to build up the ratio. ( I have 100gb free for movies/tv shows ).

      • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        9 months ago

        Torrent and Usenet are not exclusive.
        Upside of torrent: No upfront cash to use.
        No need to research backbones, pre paid accounts etc.

        • quirzle@kbin.social
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          9 months ago

          I never said they’re exclusive; I use both in my workflow. The comment to which I replied made it seem like private trackers were the end-all though, which I took issue with.

          I also think your upsides are a bit misleading. I wouldn’t use torrents without a VPN (upfront cash), and the effort to learn how usenet works isn’t any more daunting than the effort needed to get into good private trackers and keep up the ratios (e.g., tracking time/ratio based on tracker, working with hardlinks, etc.).

          • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            9 months ago

            You can torrent effectively free. Never said that you should do it.
            Usenet usage is paid from the 1st step.

    • dysprosium@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      9 months ago

      docker

      what benefit does a docker deliver? Isn’t that just a way to isolate things as if it were running inside a mini-computer?

      • quirzle@kbin.social
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        9 months ago

        Pretty much. You can download images with everything bundled and ready to go (e.g., deploy a new container image instead of upgrading your Radarr version in place) and keep them separate (e.g., Torrent container goes through vpn but your media server doesn’t, Radarr upgrade going south won’t affect your Sonarr install, etc.)

      • GravitySpoiled@lemmy.ml
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        9 months ago

        You can use a compose file and have the same setting on any device. Similar to nix. It’s like a recipe for an app. Instead of installing nextcloud step by step, you can just use docker. Same here.

    • Scrollone@feddit.it
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      9 months ago

      You may skip step 1 (getting a VPN) if you live in a country that doesn’t give a shit about piracy. Do your own research

        • Vendetta9076@sh.itjust.works
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          9 months ago

          In my experience its more flexible and super easy to set up. Sure, Nginx Proxy Manager is brain dead easy, but its pretty clunky if you want subdomains and the like. Traefik just works. I can route my local services and my external services through the same instance and it just goes. Its awesome.

          • GravitySpoiled@lemmy.ml
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            9 months ago

            Same for nginx proxy manager. I just read upon the differences and traefik is aware of containers and shall be easier to update. I may switch to it. Thx for bringing this up.

            Nginx proxy manager is super easy (for me) but traefik might be the better recommendation. Both work.

        • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          9 months ago

          You can set rules through docker compose.
          e.g.: traefik.http.routers.traefik-public.rule: 'Host(dashboard.${DOMAIN_EXTERNAL})'
          This makes it easy to setup again elsewhere without having to setup everything manually because it’s (if setup correctly) ✨automagically✨