Do people still buy their OS? Yarrr

[Ineko]

I thought it wasn't possible to pirate OS? Well, I mean i know you could download the software but how would you go about registering it? wouldn't you still need to spend $100 on the license?

There are a lot of programs that will activate trial Windows with a fake license.

[Cyanotical]

Why should someone get something for free if they went going to buy it in the first place?

why should you be upset about not getting paid for said use if you were never going to get paid for it to begin with, but to answer your question, why should i have to pay for it? its not like software has physical value, i can't eat it, i can't sleep on it or under it, i can't drive it to work. software has no tangible value, it is worthless outside of its specific usefulness

to compound that, if i buy say a pocket knife, i can always sell it or trade it for something else, it has value, but if i buy software with modern DRM, i can't trade it or sell it, therefore it is worthless, so what gives you the right to justify charging me for something that is worthless?

Your example is flawed in that each one of those people could pirate the software as well, or said individual could send them a link to <insert pirate bay like site here>, as well as people that buy the software legally can do the exact same thing.

not really, piracy does more to spread word of something than it does to hurt, you're still assuming that a pirated copy is a lost sale, you need to stop thinking that way

The open source material still has an open source licence on it. The people that made it knew full well that they were giving something out for free. Microsoft is not in that position.

MS may soon be, Apple has stopped charging for OSX, and linux has a little steam behind it in the desktop realm, but i find it very hypocritical of devs to claim they need to be paid for work done when they use code they didn't develop, sit behind opensource firewalls, and rely on opensource and free standards to make their software as friendly as possible, IMO thats worse than piracy, the audacity to want to use others work for free and then charge people for their own work

I can say the same thing about any product in the world.

Explain to me how I have not stolen a piece of furniture if I had no intention of buying it to begin with?

lets get something straight, piracy is copying, not stealing

lets say you go to IKEA and steal a piece of furniture because you didn't want to pay for it, well then you would be stealing, you have taken something from IKEA without paying for it

but instead, lets say you go to home depot, get some wood and make an exact replica of that piece of furniture, you haven't stolen anything, you've made a copy, you have that piece of furniture, and IKEA has lost neither money or product

see how that works

the problem people have is that the skill level required to copy or pirate furniture is much higher than it is for software, i could build anything IKEA sells from scrap, but most people can't, most people don't know carpentry, mechanics, welding, electronics, and structural engineering, but they do know how to copy and paste on their computer, because of this, software piracy is a big deal, while nobody cares about a carpenter in his shop turning out copies of IKEA furniture

[CandyCotton Marshmallows]

if you don't want to pay for an OS; get a free one; such as a linux distro. Not only that, but if you get an oem version of the os, it is always cheaper; and you could get home premium instead of ultimate and be fine.

rentals or netflix isn't that much, even for someone who is broke; buying movies on discount isn't so bad if you are willing to wait for the $1-5 clearance/sale bins of say dvds, not blu-ray.

I play free games; but I won't pirate games. If there is a demo, great ... if not, I'll watch vids and reviews of it from multiple sources; if it looks fun, then I'll buy it if I can afford it and I feel the value is there.


Just remember, if you ever do something of value, you have no right to get your panties in a wad if someone takes your work without giving you any credit or cash. It is 'fair play', or one good turn deserves another.


Supporting the content you enjoy is part of it all. It sucks when you can't afford it; but save and then give them your patronage. Don't be a douchebag.

[noteworthynerd]

Discussing piracy of any kind is against the forum rules so I'm gonna go ahead and close this.