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RANT: High Software Prices!

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Darwin:
I hope I haven't come across as hopelessly judgemental? I've been there - I've used PIRATED (Aaar, mateys. Shiver me timbers!) software in the past. I don't feel any particular resentment toward people still running pirated software and I don't feel any superiority over them, either. It's just that, to use Nudel's analogy, I wouldn't walk into a shop and steal a digital camera (or, for that matter the boxed version of downloadable software) even, and here's the point, IF I KNEW WITH CERTAINTY THAT I WOULD GET AWAY WITH IT. Why? Because I've been enculturated since birth not to take what is not mine. If I haven't paid for something that requires payment, then it is not mine. I think Nudel's illustration of how he came to this realisation:

The reason I hadn't bought Photoshop until then, but had bought things like digital cameras, was simple and wrong: Photoshop was easy to steal and digital cameras were difficult to steal.
--- End quote ---

is excellent. Few people, if any, that I know would intentionally steal anything. So, I'd take Nudel's point one step further and argue that most people simply don't see software piracy as stealing.

Crap. This is such a hugely complicated issue: how many of us have photocopied more than, what is it, 10% of a printed work at University to avoid paying $100+ for a 150 page book or back in the good old days borrowed an LP from a friend and copied it onto a cassette or recorded a favourite song from FM radio onto a cassette, or in the present borrowed a CD from someone and ripped it to mp3, etc.? So, this isn't a problem that is specific to software at all...

I simply don't have the "brainwidth" (to borrow a phrase from Zaine -like that one a lot) to grapple with these issues of ethics. I'm not advocating the stocks for people caught running illegal software and in fact wish them no ill will whatsoever. All I would suggest is that they consider exactly what it is that they are doing. If they do this and still feel no qualms about running pirated software, fine (but I'm locking up the silver before they come to visit!).

f0dder:
nosh: you mentioned µtorrent, so I'll make a short out-of-topic comment here. µtorrent is probably coming to and end, ludde has stopped developing on it (can't blame him) after the purchase by bittorent inc., so there's no guarantee it'll keep being a decent, lightweight and badware-free program.

nosh:
Yup, their latest "updates" were buggy at best. I went back to v. 1.6.1 b490 real fast.
Do you think they could disable older clients in the future? Coz that would be a big step back.
A lot of the updates these days *coughVISTA!* don't do much besides hogging up extra resources anyway.

zridling:
[mouser]: i want to support companies which balance making a profit with having happy users...
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That's the key: balance. I don't begrudge anyone going to the bank, especially developers. I'm just an end user (Nudel), not a programmer, but in my perfect world, developers are able to make a comfortable living from their work and creations. In the real world, the small developer is killed by piracy. That's why I recommend everyone run out and throw up a PayPal donation link on their software site. Maybe some generous soul will drop by and on impulse transfer a big steaming load of cash in your account to make up for all those lean times.
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My commute is insane (only on weekends, though), however, I've seen too many of my friends lose it all by giving up the stable job only to have their new company be sold to a competitor who promptly lays off all the new hires. And after a certain age, you're not invited to join the club anymore. So when I don't post here for days on end, you'll know I'm in my 12-year old pickup, either singing opera inside or belting out the lyrics to Led Zepp songs (yes, I believe most all the good music was made in the 60s and 70s). ha!!
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Darwin, you make a good point on piracy. However, I figure most folks feel that Microsoft, Adobe, and other big corporate software deserves to be pirated: You're forcing me to steal it! Reminds me of Steve Martin's advice on how to be a millionaire: "First, you get a million dollars...."

Darwin:
Darwin, you make a good point on piracy. However, I figure most folks feel that Microsoft, Adobe, and other big corporate software deserves to be pirated: You're forcing me to steal it! Reminds me of Steve Martin's advice on how to be a millionaire: "First, you get a million dollars...."
--- End quote ---

I've seen it suggested that Microsoft et al. actually (albeit unofficially) welcome piracy in order to get their products into the hands of users who *might* influence corporate purchases based on what they are familar with. This has been mentioned in this thread before, but I recall reading a fairly detailed discussion about it in the past - probably on Donationcoder!

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