Main Area and Open Discussion > General Software Discussion
RANT: High Software Prices!
mouser:
Now, to the next: Cracking.
Cracking is not a technical issue. It's a social one. When smart talented programmers have no jobs and no clues as to when they can start earning, they are frustrated.
Then, they go out to prove that they are good, very good. So many crackers end their victory note in " People, enjoy, I've unlocked the thing, now you can go and make merry"
Read that sentence ten times. Over and over again.
it says: "These bloody overpricing F***ers have troubled us no end. They have put a mouth-watering cake on the table in front of us, but, it is inside an iron cage and to get the key we have to fight an entire economical and social establishment. Instead, I shall use my brain and liberate myself, and you others like me, from this bonding. Take this and make merry! Remember me for the favor!"
--- End quote ---
i think this is something worth pondering.
how do you tell someone who is struggling just to get by in life and pay the rent and have enough money for food after slaving away all day, that he shouldnt be able to play with some software or game, if it doesn't cost the producer a penny since it's too expensive for him to buy?
if they entire economic system is stacked against the normal person, who gets farther and farther into debt each day, while the rich wake up and find that while they were sleeping they made 10%, 20%, 200% on some stock market investment that has no relation to work they've done. If the entire economic system of the world is stacked so high against you, and using some pirated software has no significant effect on the income of anyone, it's hard to feel bad about that.
I do think however that there are some ramifications for this kind of pirating that are non-obvious but quite important to think about. And one of them is the open source market. For example, does piracy hurt the open source community? If people couldn't pirate photoshop, would that make programs like the Gimp and Paint.net more and more important, more and more used, and perhaps more and more supported, funded, and developed? If MS Windows and OSX were never pirated, would it funnel more energy into developing and developing for linux? These are the issues that really make me think twice about pirating..
tinjaw:
Stealing is wrong. No argument there! I think what we're disagreeing on is just how wrong it is. Libertarian or not, I hope you don't see everything in blinding-stark-white or pitch-jet-black as you appear above tinjaw. I hope "wrong is wrong" isn't what you're trying to say. Is pirating wrong? Sure. Is genocide wrong? You bet. But, are they both equal?
Yeah, stealing is stealing is stealing, but are you seriously saying that all stealing is the same? 1¢ and 100,000,000¢, the same?
-Hirudin (April 26, 2007, 06:04 AM)
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You need not worry. I do understand the difference and I would not put all of those in the same basket. I was strictly speaking about "is piracy a crime of theft?" and the answer is black and white.
Renegade,
The one part where I think you really missed what I meant was where I mentioned that our ability to offer software at different prices in different markets is limited. While it is possible to offer it for free, that doesn't pay the bills for commercial developers. So while $50 may be ok in the US, in another place a reasonable price may be $2.
--- End quote ---
This is not a problem reserved only for software. It is a problem with any good or service offered globally. And the market is working that out a little more each day. Unfortunately it hasn't really been a true global market but for the past five to ten years and so we are just starting. I find "The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century" by Thomas Friedman an excellent book on this topic. I think what we will see develop is there will be a tiered market for software. With different versions of software having different amounts of features included and costing exponentially more per tier. I suspect the highest tier, with the highest cost, and the greatest amount of features and value-added material will be subscription models like Salesforce.com so that piracy can be avoided more easily.
Darwin:
Mouser wrote:
I do think however that there are some ramifications for this kind of pirating that are non-obvious but quite important to think about. And one of them is the open source market. For example, does piracy hurt the open source community? If people couldn't pirate photoshop, would that make programs like the Gimp and Paint.net more and more important, more and more used, and perhaps more and more supported, funded, and developed? If MS Windows and OSX were never pirated, would it funnel more energy into developing and developing for linux? These are the issues that really make me think twice about pirating..
--- End quote ---
Now THAT is an interesting and astute insight! I had never thought of this issue from that perspective before.
app103:
Mouser wrote:
I do think however that there are some ramifications for this kind of pirating that are non-obvious but quite important to think about. And one of them is the open source market. For example, does piracy hurt the open source community? If people couldn't pirate photoshop, would that make programs like the Gimp and Paint.net more and more important, more and more used, and perhaps more and more supported, funded, and developed? If MS Windows and OSX were never pirated, would it funnel more energy into developing and developing for linux? These are the issues that really make me think twice about pirating..
--- End quote ---
Now THAT is an interesting and astute insight! I had never thought of this issue from that perspective before.
-Darwin (April 26, 2007, 08:38 AM)
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I did and was going to say something similar to that in a previous post I made a few days ago, but I edited it out on account of the way I worded it didn't sound quite right.
I was having a bad day and everything I seemed to say came out all wrong and I got on the bad side of many people.
If you like to code for the sake of coding, and you are already doing it for free by releasing freeware and never expecting to make a dime, and you have the skills necessary and can handle working on larger projects (with others), do the world a favor and help out on an existing open source project. You just might make a difference and it would be just as or maybe even more rewarding.
I wish I had the skills necessary to do it, and maybe some day I will. But for now it isn't a good idea for me to get involved in the actual coding. I am still on the hunt for a project that does have something I can do to help, though.
As it turns out, the only skill I seem to have, that I am really good at, is connecting people with the resources they need (be it info, tools, or experts), to help them find the answers they need to tackle whatever problem they have. Despite what some people that know me may think, I don't know everything...I just know where to find the answers.
When I find a project that needs a 'human switchboard operator of info' I will have found the perfect one.
Oh wait...nevermind...I almost forgot that I am doing that now...here...in my chatroom...everywhere. :D
2stepsback:
I was having a bad day and everything I seemed to say came out all wrong and I got on the bad side of many people.-app103 (April 26, 2007, 09:53 AM)
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Ask me. First hand fresh experience :)
If you like to code for the sake of coding, and you are already doing it for free by releasing freeware and never expecting to make a dime, and you have the skills necessary and can handle working on larger projects (with others), do the world a favor and help out on an existing open source project. You just might make a difference and it would be just as or maybe even more rewarding.
--- End quote ---
Very very well said. :up: :up:
But for now it isn't a good idea for me to get involved in the actual coding. I am still on the hunt for a project that does have something I can do to help, though.
--- End quote ---
Wordpress, best bet. <-- super simple PHP
XUL next best. <-- only markup in XML
Non-FOSS:
XAML <-- M$'s version of (Java+XML) for GUI
----------Diversion----------
One and all,
See http://www.htmlkit.com/, It is a goooooood editor. Not only that you can make plugins.
Importantly, you do not need to write a single line of code to make a plugin. Yup! 8) 8) 8) 8)
It's all visual. And tell you what, it's awesome!
In fact see more in this post:
https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=7570.msg59152#msg59152
----------Diversion----------
As it turns out, the only skill I seem to have, that I am really good at, is connecting people with the resources they need (be it info, tools, or experts), to help them find the answers they need to tackle whatever problem they have. Despite what some people that know me may think, I don't know everything...I just know where to find the answers.
--- End quote ---
1. People with those skills are gonna be in demand when Redhat and sourceforge.net start their FOSS exchanges. Keep a watch.
2. You should try your hand at Google and Yahoo! Answers
(psst.... if you make good money, pass a few Donation Credits here as well ;) ;) )
HTH
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