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Thread: Linux: A Solution to Piracy?

  1. #1
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    Linux: A Solution to Piracy?

    I was just thinking about the true freedom that Linux and FOSS gives us. Most of my friends don't use Linux, but I've been using it for the past 3-4 years. Their general opinion is:
    Well it's free granted, but what else? What does this 'free as freedom' mean to me. I can use a pirated version of Windows, and that would be cheap, near free. Why should I put up with Linux?
    I guess I too had started out that way, but the other day, I had to open a document in Windows, and I needed a word processor. My first thought was Office, but then I thought: I'm not gonna use a pirated version of Office, why should I when I have an option. So I downloaded OpenOffice.org, and used it. But then and there, I understood what this freedom was. Choice.

    I fully remember that before Linux became big, I didn't have a choice. If I want to open up a simple word document, or make a simple text file, Wordpad is absolutely inadequete (notepad... *hysterical laughter here*). MS Office costs a bomb. And I'm not ever going to use it to its potential. But I never had a choice.

    I'll admit that I used to use pirated software (about 3 years ago), but now, I haven't touched something that wasn't original, and I can because now I have a choice, to use FOSS.

    I was wondering if any of you had a similar deep understanding. I feel pretty deeply about this, and I know I'll never use pirated software, because now I have no excuse. I think a lot of people will start to understand this, and stop piracy.

    P.S. Just for tabs, I live in India, which is pretty bad as far as piracy is concerned. Many small business and even several medium sized one use and distribute pirated software. I understand that this is a gentle topic though, and if this can be held against me, I won't be offended if a mod dumps this post.
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  2. #2
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    Re: Linux: A Solution to Piracy?

    The opinion you quote is a complete misunderstanding of the concept of freedom as it applies to software. What is meant is free as in liberty, not money (okay money is another concept of freedom, just not the one I think is more important). Free as in liberty (free-libre, hence the name FLOSS) encompasses ideas such as: that if I purchase a song, I should be able to play that song on any of my electronic devices; that I would like to run a program on any computing platform; that I should be free to enhance a program to make it more functional for me (for which I would require access to the source code).

  3. #3

    Re: Linux: A Solution to Piracy?

    I was wondering if any of you had a similar deep understanding. I feel pretty deeply about this, and I know I'll never use pirated software, because now I have no excuse. I think a lot of people will start to understand this, and stop piracy.
    One of the main reasons that I stick with GNU/Linux is ethics. I don't have a lot of money and can't afford XP and Microsoft Office. So I can either let my ethics slide and run pirated versions of each, stick to my ethics and run GNU/Linux. The former makes me unhappy with myself, and the latter keeps me happy with myself. The choice is easy.
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  4. #4
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    Re: Linux: A Solution to Piracy?

    Quote Originally Posted by studiesrule View Post
    I was wondering if any of you had a similar deep understanding. I feel pretty deeply about this, and I know I'll never use pirated software, because now I have no excuse. I think a lot of people will start to understand this, and stop piracy.
    Well, Linux is inextricably connected to Anarchism in my mind, so that would be my deep understanding. But it is wonderful not having to go through all the trouble pirated software gives you and to be that little bit more free from capitalist society.
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  5. #5
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    Re: Linux: A Solution to Piracy?

    I have to agree with this. At home I still have many cd's of pirated stuff from Windows times. All kinds of software and Windows itself on top of that pile. A couple of years ago before I started using Linux it could be hard to find something legal that didn't come as OEM with some hardware on my computer. Right now, even on a laptop that still has Windows you can't find any pirated software on it. Free, open source tools and programs have replaced them. My software piracy went from close to 100% to 0% in about a year And the funny thing is that I am not really worried about all those ethical implications that piracy causes, but I just find open source tools much better than some cracked, badly working software. Unfortunately I can't really say that about my music or film collection

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    Re: Linux: A Solution to Piracy?

    Quote Originally Posted by arvster View Post
    Unfortunately I can't really say that about my music or film collection
    Have a look at this site: http://www.jamendo.com/en/
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    Re: Linux: A Solution to Piracy?

    Thnx, diepruis. I already knew that site. I guess, my ethical side doesn't kick my unethical side's butt , so I often find myself just going the easy way and getting the stuff I like from p2p. The lack of services like iTunes here doesn't help either. And paying for allofmp3.com wouldn't help either, as I find it as unethical as getting the stuff from p2p. The money still stays in Russia and I don't believe the artists get much of it or any. That aside, piracy also had some good effects- without it I wouldn't even know 1/10 of the artists I know now and I wouldn't have gone to half of the concerts I have or bought the original albums that I have (from the bands that I really, really like).

  8. #8
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    Re: Linux: A Solution to Piracy?

    I remember the pre-Linux days when I would be surfing through all those VISTA-ridden* sites looking for warez, keygenz, and all the other junk. To add to that, I was about 13 or so, so porn is definitely something that makes me press Ctrl+W real darn quick (I am 20, and I still do that today). I knew this was wrong, but I simply didn't have the financial power to rid myself of the stuff. Well... open-source software stepped in and transformed my computer overnight. So yes, I see free software as being a solution to piracy, so long as people are willing to take the learning curve.

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    Re: Linux: A Solution to Piracy?

    Like arvster, shortly after I went to college, my computer software was near 100% pirated. It started out as necessity, when XP Home self destructed and I needed XP Pro to replace it (or rather XP Pro was available in the dorm).

    After getting XP Pro on there, it was Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat, AutoCAD, MS Office, and a host of others. I can't say that my computer is 0% pirated now though, as I keep an image backup of my windows programs (again out of necessity ) making it easier to restore than to install their open counterparts. Of course, most of those applications are now covered by my main (Ubuntu) OS, so they are just taking up space.

    The only thing I still use XP for is a couple of games (on occasion) and winscp (my school requires it for connecting, and I haven't been able to set up a counterpart). I think I will keep XP around, it's a good OS (*ducks*), and it will keep me sharp on windows stuff should I need it in future careers.
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  10. #10
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    Re: Linux: A Solution to Piracy?

    The idea of being able to use good, quality software at a reasonable or no cost without resorting to piracy and thereby retaining my ethics intact played a great role in my choosing to switch to Linux. The Ubuntu philosophy of "Humanity to others" is what made me choose this particular distro.
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