Originally posted by: ocpmovie
>>it'd cut down on generation-related issues resulting from repeatedly copying copies of copies of DVDs.
Uh, do you know what a DVD is? There are no generation issues involved. This ain't VHS.
In theory, you're right.
However, in practice you must take into account the "fuckwit factor". Just talk to Darth Mallwalker...
Even beyond what Moth3r has so diplomatically termed "the fuckwit factor" (I like it) you have to realize that DVD copying and burning is not perfect, even when burning equipment and media are up to snuff, and much more so when that isn't the case. The degree of degradation is far diminished when compared to VHS, but it is definitely there, and it is observable over several generations, revealed by such problems as frame skipping, pixelation, sound sync issues, and so on.
To elaborate:
Let's say that you complete a project, or rip a VHS to your computer, encode it, etc, and you burn to discs--these being the first generation copies. Data is lost even at this point, due to dust on the media, dust in the burner, media and burner quality issues, and minor, inescapable write issues. But DVD video and other formats are relatively forgiving. You can lose a little data along the way, and the loss isn't noticeable.
So these 1st gen master copies get circulated around. So then, somebody with one of these 1st gen discs pays it forward--rips it and burns it. The rip isn't perfect, and the burn certainly isn't perfect, as before. Data is lost at three points after the burning of the master copies--between coming out of the burner fresh as a newborn daisy and hitting the next DVD-ROM to be ripped, the dvd is scratched, gets dust on it, etc--even under ideal conditions. Plus there's some media and dye degradation, even in good media (anybody that believes the claims that the best of media will last several decades is smoking). Second point of loss--when it's ripped. No DVD-ROM drive is perfect, and again, dust in the drive and other issues don't help--so data is lost. And the third point of data loss--the burn. As with the master copies, there are burner issues, media issues, etc etc.
So, from when the master copies are first burned, to the completion of the burning of the 2nd generation copies, there are 4 points of data loss:
1) Imperfect burning of the masters
2) Damage to the masters
3) Imperfect reading of the masters
4) Imperfect burning of the 2nd gen copies
And with each additional generation, there are three more points at which data is lost. And when you factor the fuckwit factor into it, it gets rather nasty.
Which is why I think getting stuff these various projects onto bittorrent trackers, where data loss can be minimized through near-perfect hash-checking of data, (and the distribution of these materials can be improved), is so freagin' important.
I've done a bit of research on tracker setup, but I just don't have the technical knowledge to set one up. I know someone that could set up the torrentbits tracker (which is what the vast majority of private trackers use), provided we can get hosting. I'm broke, so again I ask, is there anybody here that has spare hosting available for something like this, and better yet, technical expertise in this sort of thing as well (seeing as how two or more heads are better than one)?
Or, the far simpler but perhaps harder to agree upon idea would be to settle upon some pre-existing private tracker to call home. But how to chose one, especially one where all the key members have an account. The obvious one is Myspleen, but the Spleen's tight restrictions is what motivated me to make the suggestion of a OT tracker in the first place, where key people would actually be in control of what's going on. So.....any ideas? 
