I’ve been using public trackers for the past 20 years, and never had a problem with them. I never got any virus or malware, and almost always found what I was looking for. What I couldn’t find through public trackers, I’d find it with soulseek. So I’m wondering what are the actual advantages of using private trackers?
For me personally I don’t need what much of the private ones have, sure they have community which makes it appealing to some, and I sure would like to be able to talk more openly about what I’ve been up to. I wouldn’t necessarily say that all private users are elitist, more that they enjoy what they have, and it’s a form of community. If you look at the forums for the public tracker that recently went down and has since come back up, they have a sort of community that some really enjoy.
I believe in keeping much of the content free and accessible for everyone to have easy access, so much so that recently I’ve fixed up an old PC and have started maintaining content for the public. Some might call this junk, but for me, it’s about sharing the entertainment and memories that I enjoyed.