Re: Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?
 

funny when companies are in doodo they get bailed out yet when some poor kid needs a computer to compete with the other kids, the morality police show up swinging their batons. as to the poster who asked which of these are flexible? all of the above. if my experience has taught me anything it is that the politician moralizing about family values is most likely having an affair or two. likewise its the guy preaching how unmoral it is for a kid to get a pirated software so they can compete in school, who probably has a stack of illegal mp3's from here to the mars on his hard drive.

Re: Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?
 

This may be offensive to some:

I'd reckon the two biggest variable that affects piracy is age and wealth.

The less money you have, the more excuses you'll scrounge to justify the offenses.

The younger you are, the less respect you have of other people's work and property.

Re: Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?
 

It's not the preaching that makes is right or wrong. The bottom line is the question was 'is it okay'. No, it's not okay, because someone asked you not to do it (how big the baton enforcing it is a different question) and you said 'fsck it, I'm doing it anyway because [insert reason]'. If you asked 'is it evil' or 'danger for mankind', 'undermining our way of life', I would also say no. But you asked if it's ok - no, it's not.

I had a commercial software or two I wanted really bad, but had no means of buying, even if I had the money. I sat down and wrote them a letter - hey - I do Open Source stuff (list of references), I'm a student and live in a god forsaken country, I really like the stuff you made, can you help. Some of them did not even respond. I don't use their software (I hold no grudge though - it's their software, their call, if I still needed it I'd buy it). Some of them were, however, more than happy to send me a license. In a weird way, one of those cases is the indirect reason for the existance/possibility of a few dozen packages in Extras - so if you use PyQt or an app that uses it, these guys made that possible. So there, do whatever you have to do, but I have to vote a 'no' on the question above.

Re: Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?
 

So the honest people pay and the dishonest benefit? Seems like an odd system.

You have a trial period and Google to learn all you need to. 30 days is plenty.

That's good.

You mean buyer's remorse? Yeah, software companies are reponsible for that. People don't buy cars / houses / tv / phones / clothes / toys and later have buyer's remorse. If you derive no value from it maybe you should have done more research. Yeah, I mean Google (its really useful in case you haven't tried it). If you didn't do the research before you spend your cash, who's fault is it really?

Try again.

Hoodwinking. Hmm... In the year 2010, there's this think called marketing and sometimes companies use to get us to buy their stuff. We as consumers kinda need to wise up and look beyond the flashy signs and messages and see if what they're really selling is what we want or need. I'll give you a secret. Sssshhhhh there's this secret tool and starts with a "G" and can pretty much tell you all you need to know about a product before you buy it.

Yeah, all those software developers sitting in the company cubes are all just money bags. They surf the internet all day long, play stupid office cubicle games and then go home and cash in the big BUCKS. Man, where do I sign up???!!!! HOOK ME UP, BABY... HOOK ME UP!!!!!

You're right thought, customers want the software for free and if they have to they'll steal and they do.

Re: Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?
 

So Intel has billions of dollars more than AMD. It's only moral that AMD hires Intels engineers and steals Intels plans so that they can compete on an even ground.

So the US has billions of more dollars than <pick your emerging market of choice>. It's their moral obligation to steal from the US everything their technology so that they can compete on a global level with the US.

In the US there is a disparity between the races and communities so it is only right and fair and true that the poor should steal from the rich so that they can compete at the same level.

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but life's a little unfair. Just because someone got the short end of the stick doesn't mean they're entitled to steal.

I'm not saying they don't need help, they do but stealing isn't the answer.

Re: Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?
 

Define "okay"...

Re: Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?
 

Okay is when you don't get caught ;)

Re: Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?
 

I voted no.

Either it's immoral and you don't do it, or you don't care and you do it. I don't think morality should be tied to a bank account balance.

Re: Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?
 

Taken out of the context, this seems like how the real world works to me.

I don't think it gets any better in context though.

You are making an assumption that you have some kind of trial period. And Google can be surprisingly bad when you get specific enough.

And there is no such thing as advertisement that promises too much.

Try again.

So you think it's ok to lie to your customers? Because they'll be smart enough to be able to figure out the facts themselves anyway?

I'll give you a secret. More we accept their s***, more they make us eat it.

One of the very basic things of capitalism is, that market decides the appropriate price for items.


I shouldn't be doing this. But the arguments above felt too wrong, so I had to counter.

Re: Is it okay for a student with limited financial resources to pirate software?
 

So its cool that life is inherently unfair...that people get the short end of the stick. Well as long as a corporation doesn't get screwed. That would be wrong.

Everything is relative and should be judged in a context. Did Harvard not take the Kennedy's money because they knew the family amassed it illegally? If some kid can't afford some software and he is not stealing it off of some other kids table, please don't compare this to the great train robbery.

BTW in the usa we have affirmative action. Different races get tons of breaks on tests, on financial aid, on job placement etc. Now go back to the time of slaves and ask if a slave had the moral right to steal...I'd say hell yes to that. again things are all relative and belong in a context.