The Pirated Software Discussion Thread!

[hyper_raider]

DYKT: i feel the major problem wif open source programs is that it lacks documentation....this causes lots of problem for "normal" users...open source software or OS such as linux requires experience in order to master...but i like the way it is heading right now...

[wodenus]

Originally Posted by Papercut

DYKT: The pirated software discussion thread has been created, and you can find it in the General Discussion area?

DYKT : I'll get to that sometimes soon.. still waiting for replies here ?

[Adrian Wong]

Originally Posted by wodenus

DYKT: it sounds different if the shoe is on the other foot ? Can I photocopy your book, as long as I don't use it for commercial purposes ?

DYKT : The shoe is already on my OTHER foot?

I guess I have the right to say I've been on both sides of the story.

I know fully well the situation on the consumer's end. Who wants to pay more for anything? And yet, the producer has a right to benefit from his work.

However, I believe we can always strike a good balance between profit and service to the community.

That's why I took 6 months to negotiate with Prentice-Hall over the BOG book. Were we discussing the weather or President Bush's campaign in Afghanistan?

No. We were negotiating the fate of the online BIOS Optimization Guide as well as the e-book version of the guide.

If Prentice-Hall (or any other publisher) have their way, the online guide would be part of the deal. That means the online BOG will be subscription only. NO free BOG.

I spent most of the time negotiating to ensure there will always be a free copy of the BOG for everyone online. The negotiations almost fell through a few times. If that's not enough, I also negotiated to ensure that the e-book version will be half as expensive as the printed book.

I think I have shown that I'm not only talking for the sake of talking, but also practicing what I preach.

Incidentally, while ARP is a hobby site, we purchase all our software. We either save up for expensive software or look for cheaper alternatives and then upgrade when we have more money.

[Adrian Wong]

Originally Posted by wodenus

DYKT : RM40K is crazy for a car that someone just drives to work and back ? fine then, stick the OS price on the hardware and charge for the lot.. this way the OS is free but the PC is more expensive. Are you happier now ?

DYKT : I think the problem people have with software prices is not so much they are so expensive, it's because there is little material cost.

DYKT : It's easier to calculate the cost of a car but not software? How do you calculate the value of a software? Based on the amount of work done? The ingenuity of the software? Or its rarity? What about its usefulness to the user?

On the other hand.. Once you create a piece of software, replicating it ad nauseum cost almost nothing thereafter. Therefore, should the company still charge exhorbitant amounts of money for nothing more than bits on a CD/DVD? See above.

[siddiq]

just one statement i made. a thread created. haha

i think software should be given free to uncomercial use . home user i mean. esspacially OS.

[Chai]

I've merged some of the posts made in DYKT thread into this thread.

[wodenus]

Originally Posted by Adrian Wong

DYKT : I think the problem people have with software prices is not so much they are so expensive, it's because there is little material cost.

DYKT : It's easier to calculate the cost of a car but not software? How do you calculate the value of a software? Based on the amount of work done? The ingenuity of the software? Or its rarity? What about its usefulness to the user?

On the other hand.. Once you create a piece of software, replicating it ad nauseum cost almost nothing thereafter. Therefore, should the company still charge exhorbitant amounts of money for nothing more than bits on a CD/DVD? See above.

DYKT : it takes years (and boatloads of cash) to complete a major software project ? they're not charging for bits on a CD, they're charging for the time, skill and effort -- the CD and the duplication are almost free

[wodenus]

Originally Posted by Adrian Wong

DYKT : The shoe is already on my OTHER foot?

I guess I have the right to say I've been on both sides of the story.

I know fully well the situation on the consumer's end. Who wants to pay more for anything? And yet, the producer has a right to benefit from his work.

However, I believe we can always strike a good balance between profit and service to the community.

That's why I took 6 months to negotiate with Prentice-Hall over the BOG book. Were we discussing the weather or President Bush's campaign in Afghanistan?

No. We were negotiating the fate of the online BIOS Optimization Guide as well as the e-book version of the guide.

If Prentice-Hall (or any other publisher) have their way, the online guide would be part of the deal. That means the online BOG will be subscription only. NO free BOG.

I spent most of the time negotiating to ensure there will always be a free copy of the BOG for everyone online. The negotiations almost fell through a few times. If that's not enough, I also negotiated to ensure that the e-book version will be half as expensive as the printed book.

I think I have shown that I'm not only talking for the sake of talking, but also practicing what I preach.

Incidentally, while ARP is a hobby site, we purchase all our software. We either save up for expensive software or look for cheaper alternatives and then upgrade when we have more money.

DYKT : none of this answers the question ? if you're against people photocopying the book for non-business purposes, then why are you proposing that software should be free for non-business purposes ?

[wodenus]

Originally Posted by Papercut

What are your views regarding pirated software? Should there be free licences for people who don't use the software for commercial purposes?

No. Cos people are greedy and want money. But seriously though, some companies already have that

Originally Posted by Papercut

Are we being charged unreasonable prices for original software?

No, cos software is not basic need. If it's unreasonably-priced, don't buy it

Originally Posted by Papercut

Is original software really unavailable in Miri?

Dunno.. haven't been to Miri

[Papercut]

Originally Posted by wodenus

No, cos software is not basic need. If it's unreasonably-priced, don't buy it

But how are you going to use a computer that doesn't have an OS? It brings us back to the point that all (or most) mainstream users need to purchase Windows because the alternatives like Linux are not feasible or user-friendly enough at this point in time.