From a less selfish perspective, if it exists in decent quality on public trackers, I’d rather contribute to keeping it alive there, where more people can access it.
This is the way. If more people did this then arguably no one would even need private trackers...
I don't have any experience with Usenet or any current DDL sources. I generally check public trackers first, then private trackers, and mostly use private trackers when I can't find something on public trackers.
My selfish reasoning is that with public trackers, I don't have to worry about my seed ratio, etc. I generally seed to a 3.0 ratio, and I do have some older/more niche stuff set to infinity, but when I need to clear some space in my seed box, it's nice to be able to delete stuff without worrying I'll be penalized.
From a less selfish perspective, if it exists in decent quality on public trackers, I'd rather contribute to keeping it alive there, where more people can access it.
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