Downloading VS. Buying things

Ok, i was thinking about this a minute ago, my friends (well some of them) think im crazy because i actually buy Linux and Free BSD, they usually say man your nuts you can download those for free and youv spent like 250 dollars buying them, well to me, its like saying Thank you and i appreciate your work when i buy it, i could have easily downloaded mandrake Linux, but the 25 dollars i spent buying it i got now only CDs but manuals (i like manuals) when i spent 90 dollars buying a FREE BSD power pack i got the complete FREE BSD book and 4 system CDs and 6 CDs of tools, when i bought Suse Linux 8.1 Professional, i got an install and user guide, an Admin guid and 7 CDs and a DVD, i like letting the people know that i enjoy and love there work, i was also thinking, would mandrake Linux be having there problems (from what i hear they filed a bankrupcy thing) if more people bought there software instead of downloading it? and for movies, i can download any movie i want pretty much, but i bought and have payed for all 89 of my horror/gore/splatter movies, yea i spent prolly over a grand buying them but i like knowing the fact that these people that make these movies know there work was much appreciateted, i have downloaded some music before, i bought the CD adrenaline by the deftones and someone stole it, so i bought another, same thing, so i downloaded a few of the songs i liked the most on it, is that wrong? in my opinion no, i already bought two copies but they were stolen so i downloaded a few songs from THAT CD. Also, i have 3 copies of night of the living dead, i have the color 1990 version, the black and white, and the black and white on DVD, i also have Halloween 4 on VHS AND DVD, im going to be most likely buying Halloween 1, 2, 5, 6 and h20 on DVD too, i already own Halloween 1,2,4,5,6, H20 and Ressurection eother on VHS or DVD or both, but i love those movies, same with Dawn of the Dead (in my opinion one of the best horror movies ever made) i have the uncute 120 minute version and ill prolly be grabbin that on DVD soon to and prolly another edition on VHS, i guess my point in this post is i wanna hear your opinions on this subject, most people get touchy about downloading software and music, me i buy it and if needed download it if its stolen (im sure as hell not gunna spend another 300 dollars on Windows 2,000 pro if thats stolen) im pretty neutral in downloading things for free but me personally i buy most of my stuff, what are your opinions on this?

gore,

I spent more than 1.000 dollars to fully equip my PCs so actually i spend more money buying things that i really care or like, then if i can get a free software like Linux and i don't have the money to buy it then don't doubt i will get it for free if it's not illegal. I have plenty of original software and CDs, DVD and movies i really love to have. I agree with you that it's nice to have manuals and the rest of the stuff you just ger buying original software, etc.

Bye.

DKRR

i bought red hat a few years ago just to support them, im going to buy mandrake for the same reason but its still easier to download them to begin with. you can always leave it in the box until it becomes a collecters item.

just because you download something dosn't prevent you from buying it. if your a movie collecter its nice not to have to spend good money on something that sucks. that makes me feel like ive been conned. as a matter of fact it it being conned.

didnt linus trovalds want linux to be a freely distributed OS anyway (maybe some of the programs ontop of the kernel should be bought)? as for music and movies and games etc the original bought version is always better and i too feel better after buying rather than downloading but when it comes to linux i have never bought only download .. sorry heh

hehe TY all for your input, and dont be sorry dahvid (im not your GF but ill call you that lol but im sure in a few days ill have a NEW name for you like i give everyone on AO:) ) yea Linus wanted it available freely, but for me, i like buying it, its kinda like a TY to him, just like if i met him id prolly buy him lunch or something as a TY from me:)


and to Dark, yea man, i spent 3,000 Dollars just on this for the PC and monitor alone, i went into debt for it, not to mention iv bought others for it, its a P3 733, and the HD is 42.9 GBs, built in CD RW drive, and DVD rom, floppy, lotsa ports for games and USB, this was 3 years ago so it was 3,000 dollars, lol now there like 800:)

gore,
for me personally i usually Download software to try them out, if they are for a tryal period with full options i try them, but if they have only lets say 50 of the lesser options i crack them to get the full version, but only for about 30 days max. This is my "tryal" period. I use it to test out the program to see if it is worth my money. If it is i go ahead and buy it, if not then i just forget about it usually. As for music and movies I usually stream them online. Most of the time i end up downloading music because there is 1 song on a cd i like and the 10 other ones are just crap (maybe Blink 182 is a good example, even though i don't like them) and i dont think 15$ is worth 1 song i will listen to. As movies go, I see them in theaters and if they are worth owning i buy the DVD. I sometimes download the trailers and full versions, because they are easy to get/find. But i dont encurage downloading movies, i only have 1 "movie" on my computer which is that new adam sandler 18 crazy nights or something like that because i havent seen it yet and will aventually check it out. My friends didn't like it but i still want to check it out. As for OS's like linux i bought the cd's of mandrake and red hat becuase I didnt have a good enough connection to download them, but it turned out I really like the manuals that came extra with them (even though you CAN find them online, i like the paperbacks). So i encourage both downloading and buying "free" things. It's completely fine to go both ways, and i strongly encourage them both. Thanks for posting!
-Spyda

i personally think its a bad idea to buy the products from the store. instead of wasting money and not knowing whom its really going to, and what they did to produce it, why not donate to smaller organizations? That way your money goes where you want, and its better spent. Personally that is my opinion.

Personal choice. I buy if I feel they deserve it. As far as it being "illegal" I don't really care... I support indie bands, and local bands, and bands that are still in it for the fans, and the music, but when a band sells out, I refuse to buy their stuff.. so If i wanna hear a song.. I'll download it. I don't like the sell outs getting money.. Occasionally i might like one of their songs, but if they weren't around, it wouldn't affect me. As far as movies I buy all the movies I like. If it's something I wouldn't see anyways then I'll download it, and if I like it then I'll go to the theatre and pay to see it, but with what theatres are charging now a days.. I'm not going to pay for a movie if there's a chance I'm not gonna like it. When it comes to software, I try to go open source as much as possible.. If i have to pay for something I will, especially in Game R&D if the game is good.. I'll buy it, lil places where it's just one person who's thrown together an app and wants to charge for it, I'll say to hell with him, and find an open source version of it. The only company I refuse to support is Microsoft. I never have, and I never will buy an MS product. I have legal copies of all their software now, because my college has an MSDN Academic liscence, and we were all given access, but I would not purchase their work. A lot of their employees are underpaid compared to employees in similar work areas, and I disagree with them. But yeah.. that's were I stand.

erok i gotta give you credit to you for reminding me about smaller organizations, i think if i can get a good paying job id start helping out with the DA LUG or BSD groups in Michigan, there small organizations that meet for Linux and UNIx chats and stuff in my area, id donate to them, and id also like to donate Money to churches when i get more money coming in (if i get my student loan tommorow i think i might:) )

and to regz, yea it sucks when a band sells out, thankfully the Misfits never have (yes they have been in mvies and stuff, but they didnt do it for money, they were in George Romeroes movie Bruiser for free, ande did there video for scream free, they were in his movie and he did there video as like ok ill do this for you and you do this for me) thats one awesome thing about true punk bands, no sell outs:)

I agree, always nice to see the you do this, and I'll do that philosophy, the IT world could learn from that....

Btw always nice to see a fellow punk.

Hey, my friends said the same when I bought FreeBSD. Thank God, it was only $65.
I buy most of my software and I download trialware to see if I will like it unless its freeware.
Like U I love the manuals or docs that U get when buying this or that. Any additional info to
help me take full advantage of the software. That is the only advantage of buying software, unless there is some online docs about freeware products.