Do you pay all your software ?

Do you pay your software or do you crack it ?

  • Yes, I do pay all my software.

  • No, I don't pay, I don't want to pay.

  • No, I don't pay, I don't have the money.

  • No, I don't pay, or just the cheap ones.

Results are only viewable after voting.
for a pretty complete discussion on 'to warez or not to warez', please see this thread

either you do or you don't, just don't don't do it here. :D

as a reminder to all - discussions about the ethics of warez are fine on this site. giving any information that assists others in participating in illegal activities is not allowed. This includes, but is not limited to, posting of serial numbers, directions for hacks and workarounds, mention of software clients specifically pointing out their illegal use, links to warez sites, and offers to help obtain illegal copies of copyrighted material.

posts requesting information on how to obtain illegal copyrighted material will be promptly deleted or edited.

THIS IS NOT A WAREZ OR HACKERS' SITE !!

keep that in mind any time you discuss this issue. but feel free to incrimnate yourself at your own risk. :D

and btw, if this thread doesn't get back to discussing the issue and not taking sly pot shots at one another, you will find it closed. understand? It is also not a flamers' site.
 
oh, and Gibbs, none of that previous post was directed towards you. you snuck that in while i was composing. nice, on topic, presentation of your opinion. :)
 
Here are a couple more interesting things to think about-

What would the price of some software be today if *nobody* on earth pirated it, therefore not causing the company to increase the price to adjust for that loss? [who knows]

In retail clothing stores, you have what corporations call "shrinkage" [shoplifting]...and most of that happens because of disgruntled workers, not outsiders.

And what about companies like Enron? When Enron went bankrupt and ceased operations, energy prices in California went back down an average of 30% according to several news publications I read. And we all know about the robber-baron CEO's out there.

That point I was trying to make was not that because "everyone is doing it" that its magically okay. I only wanted to note that stealing seems to be a pervasive element of society.

I think another element of software piracy that makes it socially acceptable is the "robin hood" aspect of it. People tend to feel as though they are taking something from a rich software corporation [microsoft is the prime example] and that "they dont need any more money". I am sure a lot of people out there feel as though they are "sticking it to the man" by pirating windows...and heck, with the kind of reputation Microsoft has, you almost can't blame them.
 
I don't pay for shareware, (don't have money, I'm a student) but when I use it I suffer the "register me" pop ups all the time. and I have virtually no commercial software simply because I can't afford it.

mp3s are another matter though :)
 
agreed, MP3's are different. Personally, I fell guilty if I use shareware too long that I don't pay for. All commercial software I have is completely paid for .. and I'm a poor student as well. ;)
 
What the heck happened to the "scientific study conducted here"? I only read through this thread because I hoped to hear who did and who didn't. I don't care if you do, I just would like to know who honestly does and why.

As for me, I had cracked serials on almost everything on my computer a year ago. Now I am all legit. OS X and opensource has helped with some stuff, making more quality software for cheep or free. I registered OmniOutliner, and Graphic Converter, but I use Gimp and Mozilla which are free of course. iTunes, textedit, and other Apple software allows me not to have to pirate Audion or Office. Other than that, I find no reason to blow the big bucks. I know Photoshop is leaps and bounds past GIMP, but how often do I need to make a photo liquefied for a school project or web photo?

The reason this argument gets so heated is because everyone has justified it in their mind and believes they are morally correct. It's not going to change anything if you call someone an @$$hole for downloading a warezed copy of a program. They will and that's that.

Don't even ask me about mp3s, because in my mind 12 gig of stolen music is not a crime. I support the artists I like by buying their stuff directly at concerts, leaving out the label's cut. Other people will call me a thief. meh.
 
At the time I'm looking this thread, there's 44.19% people paying their software here. Is that more or less than official stats ? And are there PC/Mac separate statistics please ?
 
Apple used to fly the Jolly Roger at their corporate headquarters.

Interesting precedent.

Mac%20Os%20Pirate.gif


Maybe I'll hack the finder on this new Jaguar build and replace it's Icon with this one.

I don't really have a point, Im just fanning flames here.
 
Not that this is right, moral, legal or otherwise, but I started my business on 90%+ bootleg software. It was simply too expensive to buy all the software I needed, especially in one fell swoop.

As my business grew, I gradually replaced all my bootlegs with legitimate copies, starting with the ones that I actually used most. The ones I never really used, I didn't bother with as they were only launched to play around with and never again.

Now, four years later, I'm 100% legit as far as I can tell. You can make the argument that piracy actually made the software companies money [off me anyway], because it allowed my business to grow initially. Had I not pirated software, I would never even have had a chance.

Some people are OK with this, others are not, but in the end they got their money so I can live with it.

I can understand and tolerate mild forms of piracy (students, not-as-well-off folks, those just experimenting, etc.) but I cannot tolerate anyone who makes money using pirated software not at least making some attempt to go legit. You really are leeches.
 
This looks convincing, really convincing mindbend. In fact, rare are the people like you with sound, *calm* (;)) argumentation about having, one day, pirated some software.

And you voted 'yes' I suppose :D ?
 
I have very little money, I am a college student from a sub-$20k income single-parent family (2 kids including me). I have software mostly to play with, and the stuff I actually use for productivity I get legally for free (or rather with my technology fee!) from Penn State. We will no longer get free M$ software after the end of August, because M$ wanted to re-negotiate the contract for a whole lot more $$, and since Penn State just had huge State & Fed funding cuts, and already has had to hike tuition a lot, they said "forget that" and are dumping the free M$ software program. The funniest part though? While most people, at least at my campus, use Windows, the only free software we will have left is Mac OS X!
 
I have all my software legally. That includes Studio MX, Photoshop 7, Director 8.5 at full price and Office v X for the education discount.

However I do agree with Mindbend that the software companies do not make it easy on newly starting media companies (like mine) that wish to do everything legal. Before each project started I bought the software I needed for that project legally, learning most of my stuff on the 30 day trials. However I have had very little income from the projects because all was invested in hardware and software again. I do not believe it do be the software companies responsibilities to provide some scheme for starting companies which would be a hidden way of 'funding' their future.

But they could lookinto providing schemes for starting companies as an added benifit for companies using their software. In a way they would be investing in their own future income, because more licenses would be bought.

Another thing is for governments to support some kind of subsidies for starting companies to get software, this would be a double way of investing in a countries economy.

I guess my rant is a bit of topic but I do feel I bit ticked off paying a heap when I haven't had much personal income from my business(which is fine: the price to pay when starting a company) but still having to compete with companies that use illegal software and will underprice our quotes due to this.

GO BSA!!!!
 
I agree elspif...

I am/was/still am in the same position... case in point:

We had the chance to bid for a rather large ColdFusion job which involved many other technologies as well, however, if we had won, we would've been faced with the immediate dilemma of having to purchase about £2500 worth of software before the job had started (and these guys liked paying in 45 days after invoice!)

I know MM and Adobe have started competing in the education market with fantastic deals for students, if they could extend this to small enterprises, it would be a huge boost.

Accounting software companies have already been doing this for years (they are accountants after all:rolleyes: ), and banks to a lesser extent offer free 24 months (or 12) banking.

As for the government, they would probably get it wrong (would provide use with Photoshop 3, and a HTML book:D :eek: )
 
There is not legitmate way I can use the "I'm too poor" excuse... What I need is something to help me stay legal... it is just a pain to keep track of this... (I don't want to wish for a Software License Update per se because we just might get it. ;))

But I have been making a concerted effort to pay for everything on my current machine. I try to delete the stuff that I've not paid for and don't use.

I'd say I might have as many as 20 things littered around my Hard Drive that I either failed to pay for or forgot to delete. Of those there are probably only 2-3 that I've ever used multipe times after the initial install-and-play phase.

However I should point out that I've paid full price for each version of OSX since the Public Beta... (I probably should not mention the "burned" copy of Rhapsody...) I bought multiple versions for home & work even though no one would have noticed otherwise. (Hell I paid for the work one out of my own pocket... but because I was too lazy to get reimbursed...)
 
Originally posted by uoba
...We had the chance to bid for a rather large ColdFusion job which involved many other technologies as well, however, if we had won, we would've been faced with the immediate dilemma of having to purchase about £2500 worth of software before the job had started...
Click to expand...
Luckily I'm not in the same position at work... I've been able to licence all of our ColdFusion Enterprise 5 machines legitmately. That $5k * 6... We've got all of the developers legal on CF Studio too... (albeit version 4.5)

the difference between home and work, is that I've got someone to keep track of this suff at work... I have to keep my own sloppy records at home.

I love ColdFusion (Macromedia has not harmed it yet...) so it is worth every penny. Hell my company has been evaluating $100k/cpu Java Application servers, so forking over $5k for ColdFusion seems like a steal.

...But they really ought to have a better priced "agency/small business/developer" version that is not crippled...
 
As a recent college... err... dropout, I'm not exactly what you'd call flush with money. I do, however, have 3/4 of a Computer Science degree, so I've bought, used, and stolen my (un)fair share of software. Like nearly everyone in today's world, I have become nearly dependent upon access to a computer with the common applications: word processing, photo editing (I own a digital camera), etc., etc. When it comes to obtaining this software, I have the following ethic:

1) If the software can be obtained for free, I will obtain it. Period.

2) If the software has been written by a small developer (shareware, etc.), and the software satisfies my needs to the point that I feel that it is indispensible (or if it's a game and rocks!), I'll send in the registration fee and pay for the application

3) If the software is from a large developer that is already wealthy, and they are charging way too much for the functionality included therein (i.e. M$ Office, Macromedia Studio MX, Photoshop, and sadly (and most recently) Apple), then if I can obtain the software for free and keep it, I will. 'nuff said. If they're charging an acceptable price for the functionality provided, then I will go and buy a license from the store with the lowest price.

Think of that what you will.
 
I know 3 posts in a row is anoyning, but I must say one thing to stizz...

I learned everything I know today on "borrowed" copies of BBEdit, Photoshop, MM Director, etc. Had it not been for the kindness of friends there would be no way in hell I'd be as successfull as I am now.

However I feel guilty and that's what's driving my current effort to get legal on everything. I think this is the best some of us can do in this world. In the end Karma get's us all. I'm hoping I can get it fully counteracted before it is too late.

I think the saying starts something like this "It's better to ask for forgiveness later...".
 
it goes a little like this:

dilbert, wally, and some other guy are eating lunch)

Wally: I think it is better to ask forgiveness then to ask permission

other guy: I think it is better to seek permission, thus delaying the process until the next management reorganization which will render the point moot

Wally: that makes mine sound kinda stupid...

:p
 
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