Quote:
Originally Posted by tsu2
-  For any other download method, the checksum (MD5) check is critical. For Bittorrent, it's unnecessary and overkill because a Torrent download automatically checksums every one of the hundreds or thousands of pieces as well as the final re-constructed file. The only way a torrent download can be damaged is if the original source file is damaged. |
I do not believe this to be accurate.
I have downloaded torrent files that were corrupted, but the torrent application gave me a completed message.
Later I realized the file was corrupted, and I then forced (on the bittorrent application) the torrent checksum, and then, and only then, did the torrent application pickup on the fact that the downloaded file was corrupted.
I have seen this behaviour on both ktorrent and azureus. This is not common, but it does happen. I've had this happen about 1/2 dozen times over the course of the past few years.
Hence I believe the md5sum check of the iso file is still useful, even for iso files downloaded by torrent.