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This blog post from a few years ago, suggests that:

The first answer is "don't run Bittorrent over Tor". We've been saying for years not to run Bittorrent over Tor, because the Tor network can't handle the load; perhaps these attacks will convince more people to listen.

Is this true even now? Is torrent traffic too much for Tor networks to handle?

Would it be considered bad form to use a torrent client over Tor?

Andrew Lott
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asheeshr
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  • I wonder if this question should be dropped in favor of the other version you just asked? (See my answer there too.) – Roger Dingledine Sep 26 '13 at 01:21
  • They're a bit different, but I think if you answer one you're probably going to answer the other. I'd say mark it as a duplicate. –  Sep 26 '13 at 01:43
  • @RogerDingledine While the questions are related, they are distinct. I would suggest editing your answer on the other question to address only whats being asked there. Please post a separate answer here describing why its bad form, if you feel like it. In this Q&A format, (in my experience) targeted questions are more useful than broader cover-all questions. – asheeshr Sep 26 '13 at 01:43
  • I'd actually say this is the better question; `how do I setup software X?' will probably end up being offtopic (in fact, I think I'll create a meta question about that) –  Sep 26 '13 at 01:45
  • @SamWhited Actually, I would argue setup questions should be off-topic only if its not covered on the official blog/site. – asheeshr Sep 26 '13 at 01:46
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    @AsheeshR We can discuss it here: http://meta.tor.stackexchange.com/questions/22/are-questions-about-configuring-software-to-use-tor-on-topic –  Sep 26 '13 at 01:47
  • Erm. If the consensus is for me to paste my answer from over there to here, and I guess change the intro sentence, I'm happy to do that. Edit: done. – Roger Dingledine Sep 26 '13 at 01:58
  • Perhaps the better answer here is to edit the other question and merge this one with that one. How is it valuable to have two posts with a copy paste of the same answer? I'm voting to close this as a duplicate, only because this question is based on the other one and could be edited to make one really awesome question with a really awesome answer. – jmort253 Sep 26 '13 at 02:41
  • @jmort253 Fair enough. I seem to be in the minority here. My intention was for this question to be a theoretical one describing how torrent clients work over tor as opposed to other networks and how this extra load affects the network performance. The other was a simple setup question, where "dont do it" is also a perfectly reasonable response. If this isn't clear, then do improve this one to make the issue stand out. If you still feel they should be merged, then go ahead. Either way is fine :) – asheeshr Sep 26 '13 at 08:47
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    Okeydoke. A moderator blew away my answer here, so I have voted to close this one. If you think we should close the other one instead, please take whatever behavior is normal in StackExchangeland. Thanks! – Roger Dingledine Sep 26 '13 at 09:08

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