Transmission

Overview

Transmission is a free, open source BitTorrent client designed to be fast, lightweight and easy to use, supporting macOS, Windows, and Linux. It is known for its low resource usage and cross-platform consistency, and provides a graphical interface (GUI) (transmission-gtk, transmission-qt), a command line interface (CLI) (transmission-cli) and a daemon (transmission-daemon, with a web interface). Transmission uses GNU GPL v2/v3 (some components are MIT licensed) and does not contain ads or paid features. It supports a variety of features such as magnet links (Magnet URI), encrypted connections, seed file creation, and remote control, and is widely used to download large files.

History and Development

• Origin:
  • Transmission began in 2005 and was created by Eric Petit (TualatriX). It was originally developed for the macOS platform with the goal of providing a lightweight, native BitTorrent client.
  • In 2006, the first Linux version (transmission-gtk) was released, and then expanded to Windows and embedded devices.
• Development history:
  • 2007-2010:
    • Became the default BitTorrent client for Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora and other distributions due to its ease of use and low resource usage.
    • Supports web interface (Clutch) and remote control.
  • 2016:
    • The Transmission website suffered a malicious attack, and the macOS installation package was implanted with KeRanger ransomware. Apple quickly revoked the developer certificate and updated XProtect protection.
    • The project strengthened security measures to ensure download package verification.
  • 2020-2023:
    • Transmission 4.0.0 (2023-02) introduced support for BitTorrent v1/v2 mixed seeds and optimized Apple Silicon.
    • Supports modern Qt interface for Wayland (Linux) and Windows 11.
  • 2024-2025:
    • Transmission 4.0.5 (2024-12) optimizes IPv6 and UDP tracker performance, fixes web interface bugs.
• Community and Support:
  • Maintained by volunteers, hosted on transmissionbt.com and GitHub.
  • Provides forums (forum.transmissionbt.com), Wikis, and X communities (such as @transmissionbt).
• Open Source License:
  • The core code is GPL v2/v3, and some components (such as libTransmission) are MIT.

Main Features

Transmission is known for being lightweight, efficient, and user-friendly, suitable for a variety of scenarios. Here are its main features:

1. Lightweight and efficient
   • Low resource usage:
     • Low memory usage (about 20-50MB), suitable for NAS, Raspberry Pi and low-end servers.
2. Cross-platform interface
   • GUI:
     • transmission-gtk (Linux, GTK interface), transmission-qt (Windows/Linux, Qt interface), macOS native interface.
   • Web interface (Clutch):
     • Remote control via browser (http://localhost:9091).
   • CLI:
     • transmission-cli is suitable for script automation.
3. BitTorrent function
   • Support functions:
     • Magnet link (Magnet URI), encrypted connection, seed creation, priority setting.
     • Support UPnP/NAT-PMP (automatic port mapping), Local Peer Discovery, μTP (Micro Transport Protocol) and IPv6.
4. Security and privacy
   • Functions:
     • Support bad peer blocking list, encrypted transmission, no tracking of users.
5. Embedded support
   • Functionality:
     • Runs on Western Digita, Zyxel and other NAS and Fon routers.

Advantages and limitations

Advantages

• Lightweight and efficient:
  • Low memory usage, better than qBittorrent.
  • X post said "Transmission's low resource usage makes it the best choice for NAS."
• Cross-platform support:
  • Support Linux, macOS, Windows, with a consistent interface.
• User privacy:
  • No ads, no tracking.
• Embedded compatibility:
  • Runs on Raspberry Pi and NAS.
• Active community:
  • Volunteer maintenance, fast fixes for security issues (such as the KeRanger incident in 2016).

Limitations

• Limited RSS support:
  • Does not directly support RSS subscription torrents, requires third-party plug-ins.
• Simpler functions:
  • Lacks advanced features of qBittorrent (such as built-in search).
  • Solution: Combine CLI script automation.
• Graphical interface dependencies:
  • transmission-gtk requires GTK environment, which may increase resource usage.
  • Solution: Use web interface or CLI.
• Historical security incidents:
  • KeRanger attack in 2016 affected macOS users.

Summary

Transmission is a free, open source BitTorrent client, known for its light weight, efficiency and user-friendliness, supporting macOS, Windows, Linux and embedded devices. It provides GUI, CLI and web interface, supports magnet link, encrypted transmission and seed creation, and adopts GPL v2/v3 and MIT licenses. Transmission is suitable for large file download tasks.