How to download anything you need using open source tools

Direct downloads from one-click hosting servers

As we’ve seen in the previous article, direct downloads from one-click hosting servers like Megaupload and Rapidshare have several drawbacks (at least if you’re downloading contents from those servers for free). Even if you have a premium account, having to download 10 different parts of a 1 GB file can be tiresome.

If you want to be able to download files from those sites easily and with a minimum effort, jDownloader is the only application you’ll need.

After downloading and running the program, the only thing you need to do is provide the links of the files you want to get. You won’t be bothered by the restrictions imposed by the one-click hosters (like waiting for the downloads to begin, waiting from one download to the next, entering captchas, etc). Just let jDownloader run in background and it will perform its magic, freeing you to focus on more useful tasks.

These are some of the program main features:

• Support for more than 100 one-click hosts : besides the most popular one-click hosting servers (Megaupload, Rapidshare, MediaFire, etc), jDowloader supports more than 100 of those servers. If you’ve already installed it, go to Extras / Configuration / Hosts so you and see which ones are supported.
• Automatic file extraction : when the files you’re downloading consist of several parts (typically multipart rar files), the program will extract the files when all the parts have been downloaded. When downloading an encrypted file, you can also provide the corresponding password at the time you start the download and forget about it (once the complete file has arrived, jDownloader will use the supplied password to open it).
• Captcha recognition : the program makes quite an excellent jobs in solving the different captchas that are usually required for downloading a file. And even if it can’t figure out a given captcha, it will show it to you in a small window so that you can enter the solution.
• Automatic IP renewal : most one-click hosters set a daily download limit for free accounts, that is enforced by checking the users’ IP addresses. If you’re using a broadband connection, all you have to do to get a new IP is turn your router off and on again (or forcing a reconnection through its web-based management interface). jDownloader can do this for you automatically if you wish (it supports a lot of popular broadband routers).
• Bandwidth throttling : if you’re downloading multiple files at the same time, you may want to limit the speed at which the program downloads those files, so there is some bandwidth left for other tasks like web browsing, email, etc. This program is so efficient at downloading that if you use it intensively it’s quite likely that sooner or later you’ll have to limit its download speed.
  

Caveats

• Automatic updates : every time the program starts, it will check for updates and prompt you to install the upgrades. There can be several updates each week, and having to upgrade the program every couple of days is annoying. And even though it’s likely that the updates can be disabled, that wouldn’t be a wise thing to do (most updates are related to the modules that support the different file hosting services, so if you don’t update the program, chances are you won’t be able to download files from some of the servers).
• User interface : being a Java application, don’t expect it to look pretty. Anyway, the application doesn’t look bad, it’s quite easy to use and it works like a charm.
  

BitTorrent file-sharing

When it comes to BitTorrent file-sharing, Vuze (formerly Azureus) is probably one of the best open source multiplatform applications available ^[1].

These are some of Vuze’s main features and strengths:

• Ease of use : the program’s user interface is simple, uncluttered, and it’s very easy to use. This can be an important bonus for those less familiar with the way BitTorrent works (they won’t be bothered with useless details or the need to tweak every possible setting in order to get a decent download speed). However, the power users won’t be let down: the configuration panel lets you fine tune almost every aspect of the application.
• Integrated search : Many BitTorrent clients have been offering search capabilities for some time, so that you don’t have to find torrents through websites. Vuze implements the search feature in a very simple and powerful way, letting you search through sites like Mininova, YouTube or Vuze’s own HD Network, all with a single query and without leaving the program. The results are presented very neatly, and it takes just one click to start downloading any of the files shown.
• Broadcatching : this is one of Vuze’s best features.
  

Caveats

• Ads : when you use the program’s search feature, you’ll be shown some ads.
• Translations : although the user interface is available in multiple languages, some of the translations seem to be works in progress, and you’ll end up with half of the program in your selected language and the other half in english.
  

Other options

In case you don’t like Vuze, here’s a list of almost 50 BitTorrent clients (three out of four are covered by GPL or similar licenses).

I can suggest you the following options:

• KTorrent : if you’re using the KDE environment, KTorrent can be a good choice for you. It’s a very lightweight program, and being a KDE application it plays nice with your desktop environment.
• Opera ^[2] : this is the most simple way to download torrents, and all you need is a web browser. Opera has an integrated BitTorrent client, so when you click on a torrent link, it will let you download it just like any other regular file. It can’t get any easier. Opera’s BitTorrent capabilities may not satisfy the power users, but for those downloading torrents once in a while, it can be good enough.
• rTorrent : if you prefer working from a command-line environment, then rTorrent is probably the best BitTorrent client in its class. Here you can find a very good article on how to use rTorrent, which also shows some of it most interesting and advanced features.

¹ Please note that even when Azureus is an open source program, it doesn’t have a GPL license. If you’re concerned about that, then have a look at the list of BitTorrent clients so you can choose another program.

² Opera is completely free (as in free beer), but it’s not open source

Downloading streaming contents

Watching online videos requires a good broadband connection, lots of patience, and sometimes it can be a challenge, even if you do have a good connection speed.

It’s a lot better to download the videos you want to watch, and then watching them with your favourite player. The problem is that most of the online video sites don’t offer links for direct downloads, forcing you to play the contents through their embedded Flash-based players (which are quite limited).

If you want to download videos from YouTube, Megavideo and many other similar sites, there’s a Firefox extension that you can use for that purpose. It’s called Video DownloadHelper and you can download it from here.

After installing the extension, all you need to do is start playing some online video (so that the add-on can intercept the required information for downloading the file), and then click on the extension button to start downloading it.

As soon as you start the download, you should close the web page showing the video in the embedded Flash player. If you leave it open, you’ll have two downloads in progress (the one from the Flash player, and the one from the DownloadHelper extension), and it will take twice as long to download the file.

Broadcatching

Broadcatching is the downloading of digital content that has been made available over the Internet through RSS feeds. Instead of having to spend time visiting multiple websites to find what you want to download, you just need to find a relevant RSS feed and add it to your broadcatching client. The program will monitor the feed, and when it finds new contents it will let you know, allowing you to start new downloads with a single click. You can even tell the broadcatching client to download new contents for you as they become available, so the whole process becomes fully automated.

In the following article we’ll talk about some of the best open source tools that can be used for broadcatching.