I remember when I was a teen, I used USENET to d/l pictures with a 26.4kbps modem - this was some time ago (let’s call it 20 years and not discuss it further)! I don’t think USENET is “plodding” at all. My setup is so automated that I spend less than 5 minutes a week verifying/whatever downloads and the like. No need to u/l anything. It. Just. Works. No risk of being hit by authorities for seeding a torrent (I have received a few ISP letters in the past that I was identified - granted I was not using a VPN or proxy at the time.)
Agreed. Automation is optional. You can easily get started with many popular Windows apps that are readily available (my advice is to always go open-source).
Setting up automation was a laborious task for me. I set it all up on TrueNAS - so it was a bit harder that just using Windows apps and file systems. But, well worth the time!
My indexer has been darn rock solid for all the things I have ever looked for. Do you have any insight as to any other indexer that might benefit me? Got an invite to give out?