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Pirated Software and Viruses? Ahem... No. I don't want to help you...

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Renegade:
I think this is ours (software authors') fault. We cannot sell the software properly.
-vlastimil (May 03, 2011, 03:07 PM)
--- End quote ---

This is a very real problem. And probably one of the most common things you read about in developer forums (except here -- for some reason there isn't a lot of discussion about that here).

A little about OCI hate to dredge up dirty laundry, but this is one of the reasons that I decided to try out OpenCandy. It offers software authors a way to capitalize on their software with larger companies picking up the tab.


Selling software is tough. A lot of people don't see the value in software. I'd posted a link in another thread where the author in part blamed free software for destroying markets (specifically he blamed Google for some problems). I think that's true in some ways.

Arbitrage in advertising has hiked prices up far above fair values, which in turn further damages legitimate markets.

The current best ways to market software are exactly what software authors do not want to do. Like who wants to 'get social' when you can do something cool like learn a new social SDK?

Shameless plug: For software authors, have a look at some of my blog posts on RoboSoft. It's a start, and since a lot of it is technical, it's an easier transition to get into some better marketing techniques.

@superboyac +1

TomD101:
Hi all,

when I started out in 1985, I was in high school, had no income and spent my driver's license money on a C64 with floppy drive. We all copied ANYTHING then. It was the Hacking Crew against LENSLOCK and mostly VERY expensive games, few apps and the fun of sharing information and how to's.

Later with my first PC (8088, 8 Mhz, 20 MB HDD) I was dependend on people who had access to software. There was no online market and stores in Germany were ... well, existent, but knowledge about PCs were not really common. I took anything, I could get my hands on, tested it, uninstalled it, kept it, depending on its value (for me).

Over the years I did what most people around me (and with similar (non-)income structure do. Re-use licenses, download trials and hacks and more and more turn to freeware.

Since working for a programmer - translating his software -, I have more and more insight into the HIGH amount of work that is connected with creating and maintaining software. His program sells well, so pirating is of course an issue but nothing to keep him from sleeping.

So my current PC has either paid software or freeware. If I need a program, I find a freeware or I test several programs and decide which to buy.

I admit, I sometimes use a crack, if I need extended features before I decide to buy. I also used cracks, if I needed ONE special software for ONE task only. But after that, I usually deinstall OR decide to buy anyway.

But then again, it took me some 20 years to achieve an income that lets me act that way.

Thomas
Germany

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