rick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > we encourage people to use FOSS not to fight piracy. Piracy is the > problem of microsoft. piracy is a problem of BSA. let BSA and > microsoft fight their problems.
No! I have written a lot about this, and I feel very strongly that piracy _is_ one of the largest problems facing FOSS. What? How can piracy affect FOSS? Aren't we encouraged to copy and share FOSS with our family, friends, and co-workers? Take a look around you. Would Microsoft Office have this much of a lock-in if people were forced to buy legitimate copies from the beginning? Would companies require Adobe Photoshop experience if people who couldn't afford Adobe Photoshop used GIMP instead of pirating it? Wouldn't people be encouraged to explore alternative development environments if they couldn't get their hands on pirated versions of things like Microsoft Visual Studio .NET? Piracy doesn't hurt big companies. In fact, it _helps_ them by making their products more popular until people _assume_ you have a copy of the product, legitimate or not. Piracy hurts small companies. If you can buy the latest, most popular games for little more than the cost of a meal, why buy a lesser-known game by someone just starting out? Piracy hurts open source. If you can get all the commercial software you want for nearly free, why try free software? Piracy is _our_ problem. Piracy gives people an easy way out, so they don't have to risk trying something new. Piracy makes people think that you don't need to compensate developers. Piracy doesn't hurt big companies like Microsoft; it hurts _us_. Help Microsoft stamp out piracy! Give friends a copy of Linux today! -- Sacha Chua <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> - open source geekette http://sacha.free.net.ph/ - PGP Key ID: 0xE7FDF77C interests: emacs, gnu/linux, personal information management, CS ed sachac on irc.freenode.net#emacs . YM: sachachua83 -- Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List [email protected] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Official Website: http://plug.linux.org.ph Searchable Archives: http://marc.free.net.ph . To leave, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/plug . Are you a Linux newbie? To join the newbie list, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/ph-linux-newbie
