Just a friendly reminder before the actual F.A.Q. begins; if this is your first time reading it, do yourself a favor and read this document in its entirety. It should hopefully answer all of your questions, so do not skim through it and please pay very close attention.
Q: What is the Hub's address?
A: Keep reading. It is towards the bottom of this document.
Q: So, uhhh, what is this "Hub" thing, anyway?
A: Well, a picture is worth a thousand words, so I will just show you what the Hub looks like:
Click for a much larger picture
The above picture was taken by me on my primary computer on Saturday, 10 July, 2004 at 18:06 (06:06 pm) CDT using the Windows client program DC++. At the time, 63 users were connected, each one of which is a fellow giantess fan (except for Bulletin, it is just an automated script, therefore it likes fatties) and come from all over the world. In this picture alone, if you scroll over to the right and look at the descriptions, you can clearly see people from the USA, Canada, UK, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Turkey and Brazil. Eight countries spread across three continents and that is just the top 37% of the user list!
Notice how I am at the top of the list off to the left and am sharing 15 gigabytes (GB) alone? That is all GTS stuff. Ranging from videos to cartoons to drawings to comics to stories, there is so much giantess material at your fingertips on the GTS DC Hub it is almost hard to believe. Nothing else in the GTS community has anything that can even compare to the overwhelming amount of material at one's disposal on the GTS DC Hub.
Do you see how much stuff is being shared cumulatively on the Hub? If you look down at the bottom, it says 529.73 GB. That is enough data to fill roughly 113 DVD discs, all on the GTS DC Hub on Saturday afternoon. Granted, it is not all GTS stuff, for people on here share everything from cartoons to video games to music to everything in between, but seeing as everyone is required to share GTS files eventually, you will not have trouble finding GTS files.
A "Hub" is a gathering place for people to congregate, share files and chat about whatever they want, be it huge women, politics, video games, whatever. Did I mention huge women? It utilizes Direct Connect, which is a de-centralized file sharing method that is not vulnerable to attack by ravenous, bloodthirsty lawyers because there is no core server that would take down every single user's ability to connect.
Q: How does it work?
A: The beauty of running a Direct Connect hub is that not only does it require little bandwidth, which means I can actually afford to keep it online, but it also means that normal people in this community can share their archives of GTS material, which leads to a far larger and more diverse selection of material, but it also encourages community participation. I merely provide a meeting place for people to congregate and share files with each other. In other words, you log onto the GTS DC Hub and download from fellow users and not the Hub itself. Of course, I log on to the GTS DC Hub all the time to say hi to my friends and share my files.
The best analogy I can think of is to compare it to a mall. Just like how the company that owns the mall's building is not responsible for providing the content, I am not the only one providing the GTS files, for all I do by providing the GTS DC Hub is provide a place for people to gather and share files. It is up to the users who log on to share the files, just like it is up to the other companies that rent space in the mall to provide the actual goods and services. And the analogy goes one step further in that on the Hub, different people are known for different types of GTS files, so you can go to a different people for different types of GTS stuff just like you can go to different stories in a mall. Some people are known for sharing comics and drawings, some are known for anime, others are known for poser and some have huge video archives. And some are known for having a bit of everything, like me.
Q: I am very interested. What does it take to join?
A: It is free to join for the time being. Just read the DC++ setup article if you need help setting up a client, type in the address, and you will be on your way.
However, please consider donating if you find the service to your liking. It will help fund the server and stuff.
Q: What software do I need? And is the software free?
A: You need a Direct Connect client in order to connect to the GTS DC Hub. And yes, all the clients listed below are free.
There are so many Direct Connect clients out there that it makes my head spin. Given my experiences, here is what I can recommend:
Windows
- DC++ is an extremely stable and full-featured Direct Connect client for the Windows operating system. My personal recomendation.
Mac OS X
- ShakesPeer is basically DC++ but for OS X. Seeing as DC++-based clients blow everything else out of the water under Windows, I cannot recommend this client enough. Just mount, drag to desktop, and you will be ready to go.
- DCGUI-QT - is a cross-platform client that is available on Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, and other operating systems. I do not really care for it under Windows, but under Mac OS X it is good for power users and for Linux and the others it is the best client bar-none.
If you know of a client that is not on this list and you feel it should be, contact me and let me know.
Q: Where are all the users from?
A: The GTS DC Hub is truly an international gathering place, proving that people the world over like this whole giantess thing and that it is not just something in the Texas public water supply or bound to a particular race, creed, religion, shoe size, toothpaste preference, or pet choice.
If you are interested in seeing a list of where everyone is from, click right here. From the United States of America to France to Egypt to Japan, the GTS DC Hub's rosters include people from more than 40 different nations.
Q: What kind of stuff do people on the Hub share?
A: Because of the wildly diverse userbase on the GTS DC Hub, and indeed the GTS community in general, just about everything imaginable that is able to be stored on computers can be found on the Hub. Giantess material from all corners of the globe can be found on the Hub, as well as regular stuff too. Ranging from Japanese animation to Taiwanese TV advertisements to scans of American comics to encodes of Italian movies, it is all there and a whole lot more.
As far as regular stuff, it is downright amazing what can be found. The varied tastes in MP3s, downloaded movies, encoded TV shows, be they live-action or cartoons, and other assorted files... well, suffice to say that there is a lot on there.
Just make sure what you want to share is not explicitly banned, which is outlined in the GTS DC Hub Rules, and you will be fine.
Q: Can I just paste the Hub's address into my web browser and access the GTS DC Hub like that?
A: No. Please do not even bother, for all you will do is waste your time and look dumb in the process. You absolutely, positively need a Direct Connect client to connect to the GTS DC Hub.
Q: About how many people are online at any given time?
A: It varies, to say the least. This is because of the fact that the GTS DC Hub's denizens inhabit numerous timezones spread across the globe, do not all follow the same day-to-day schedule, and some log on far more often than others.
Could be as low as 20, could be as high as 60. Log on and add another number to the tally. Be a faceless statistic! Give in to peer pressure! Come on, all the cool kids are doing it!
Q: How exactly do I use the Hub?
A: It is quite simple, really. If you know what you are doing, point your preferred Direct Connect client at the Hub's address and you should be in.
If you need some help setting up a Direct Connect client, read this article. I walk you through every single detail on how to configure DC++, the best client for Windows, get it set up, and all that jazz.
When you are on the Hub, please say hi. We appareciate conversation on the Hub.
Q: What is the Hub's address?
A: gts-depot.net:9999
Q: Would I have to follow any rules?
A: Yes, you would. Part of why my GTS DC Hub has survived and prospered beyond my wildest dreams when I first established it, aside from the fact that I made the very first one, is the fact that I run a very, very tight ship. These rules govern just about everything on the GTS DC Hub, from what you can safely share and what you cannot, to how to act, and so forth.
Yes, it will actually take a few minutes to read the rules.
Follow the rules and you will have nothing to worry about. Break them and you will be forced to leave. It is as simple as that.
If you have a question regarding the GTS DC Hub that is not addressed in this document, e-mail me and I will answer it for you, and most likely include it in this document.
Q: Oinga, oinga, oinga! La la la la, boo boo!
A: That is not a question, fathead.