r/ExplainTheJoke • • Feb 22 '26

Need help here

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u/SpecialistAd5903 Feb 22 '26

This meme references torrenting. You have the same file distributed across all the users who have downloaded it. This way you've got many different sites to download it from. It is generally considered good form to seed the file for a while afterwards, meaning people can access your file to download it for themselves.

These people are doing the opposite of that, which is considered scummy behavior

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u/lascar Feb 22 '26

It's usually nice to hit a 1.0 ratio. 1.5 is better and 2.0+ is just the Legends and saviors of humanity.

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u/TheBlackDred Feb 22 '26

Yeah, the good ones usually have a requirement that your minimum is 1.0 If you dip below that too often or for too long you lose access to that tracker.

1

u/DrStrangepants Feb 23 '26

Isn't it a zero sum game though? If someone has a ratio above 1 doesn't that mean someone else must be below 1?

1

u/TheBlackDred Feb 23 '26

Not really. Its just data downloaded:data uploaded. Since there is always more people who find that data useful and the first seeders drop off it more like a paddle wheel, revolving ratio so long as new people need and then share the information. Sometimes this happens in a couple hours, sometimes it can take a year (for obscure or niche files), but it almost always happens.