SABnzbd is an open source and cross-platform project that provides users with a binary newsreader, also known as NZB Usenet downloader. It supports Linux, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems.
The program has been crafted to perfection and engineered to simplify the entire process of downloading files from popular binary newsgroups, such as the worldwide distributed P2P (Peer-to-peer) system known as Usenet.
Features at a glance
As its name might suggest, SABnzbd is actually a daemon software that runs in the background when the computer starts and can be accessed via a web-based user interface that supports multiple languages and a plethora of functions.
When running the software for the first time, users will have to go through a four-step setup process that will ask them to enter the details of their primary Usenet provider, choose if you want SABnzbd to be viewable by any PC on your network or only from your computer.
In addition, users can password protect the access to their SABnzbd instance, configure their web browser to launch with the SABnzbd page when the application starts, as well as to enable OZnzb integration.
Under the hood and availability
Under the hood, we can report that the application is written in the Python programming language, which means that it is portable and provides users with a fully customizable web-based user interface, making the software to work practically anywhere and everywhere.
While on Linux the application is distributed only a source archive and dedicated Ubuntu PPA repository, binary executable files are available for the Mac OS X and Windows platforms. However, Linux users can easily install it from the default software channels of their distribution.
Bottom line
All in all, downloading from Usenet is easy with the SABnzbd application, which not only works on the Linux, BSD, Unix, Windows and Mac OS X operating system, but it is skinnable and easily extensible. It also provides developers with a complete API for hooking up third-party applications.
