21Gb is huge - For first time download, with people capped internet at 20Gb per month. {Most 3rd world countries, still use capped internet}
Can it not be commpressed daily {Zip / Rar etc} and be placed on a fast P2P site? {auto proccess} As a backup?
Rather than having to download the whole thing?
The reason not to update the bootstrap often is:
How often will this torrent be updated?Assuming this project is deemed useful and worth continuing... the torrent will be updated once every few months, when the checkpoints are updated in the
reference client source code.
Why not update the torrent more often?A torrent works best when it is a large, static dataset that changes infrequently. That maximizes the ability to seed the data, enabling even part-timer seeders to contribute meaningfully. Less frequent changes also minimizes the risk that a malicious torrent will appear, with a long, malicious side chain. The current policy only updates the torrent after blocks are buried many thousands deep in the chain.
Not sure about why it is not compressed, but I believe the devs want to keep the file simple.
Why should I trust you?
You don't have to: This data is raw block chain data. The client will verify this data during import.
Independent third parties may generate their own bootstrap.dat, up to height 295,000, and verify that the sha256sum matches that posted above. The file format is simple and publicly known:
<4-byte pchMessageStart><32-bit length><CBlock, serialized in network wire format>
Some people may be a bit uncomfortable opening a zip file.
Anyway, if you have limited bandwidth or limit HDD space, you shouldn't really use bitcoin-qt.
