Well, for starters, i hate the prices of brand new software. It’s absolutely ridiculous, however that’s the way that life goes… i feel bad when i’m at the apple store or Micro Center and I listen in to what the sells people are telling the very naive consumer. If the salesman (or saleswoman for the frickin’ people who have to be politically correct) left the person alone to browse for a moment, I simply tell them “hey, you know i can get you this program for free?” 9 times out of ten, i get their phone number and mail out the CD to them or meet again.
Some people say it pirating is bad. I say i love it. First off, let me say that i’m in college right now, working 30 some hours a week as well to pay for my things. I DON’T have the money to pay for these programs that you “need” for courses.
However, whenever i get new software i smile. I think, WOW this version runs a lot better then the ones you buy. It runs better because it was free.
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Yeah they run better cuz all the safeguards are taken off it to allow you to copy it. These safeguards against pirates often make the software very difficult to use.
mark on August 13th, 2008 at 3:46 pm | Link
I run Linux and all the software I use is completely free, both in the financial sense and in the meaning of liberty. The GNU gnu.org talksw a boutthe four freedoms:
* The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
* The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1).
Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
* The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
* The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
So why not give it a try and save your money.
Steve
Steve on August 20th, 2008 at 10:32 am | Link
I agree with Steve. Free software is the way to go. Sure, there is some niche software that has no free counterpart, but it is pretty rare nowadays.
Matt on November 3rd, 2008 at 4:29 pm | Link