Ethical questioning

[tripstone]

I personally believe in freeware...I will definately pay for something if it is worth the price...how unethical is it to get a program that costs more than should be payed for it and getting a serial for it that wasn't recieved from paying for the product to use it for free? Am I wrong in having unpaid progs on my computer? I don't believe in paying $300 + for PhotoShop...id pay $50 and I would definately want it for free...who wouldn't?

[Ennis]

I personally use warez but feel a little guilty when doing so considering the hard work people but into making these applications and programs.

[greyhairedwolf]

I take advantage of Freeware and Shareware whenever I can and don't see any problem with it. The only time ethics come into play in my opionion is if a person chooses to use Warez. Am not going to lie and say that I have never used warez in my life. But the more I learn about programming the more I believe in open source, but my respect for the time that those who write the code also increases and if they choose to charge a fee I understand and will pay a resonable fee for that program. Anyway to summerize my feelings Freeware and Shareware are great and I dont see any ethical problem with them. Warez well each person has to decide in a society with copyright laws.
FreeWare Definition from Merriam-Webster OnLine
ShareWare Definition Merriam-Webster OnLine

[stflook]

Show me a computer-savvy person who claims to have never illegally installed software, and I'll show you a liar.

[zepherin]

I personaly think that some programs are destined to be downloaded illigely. I bought windows 95 back and the day and that's the only time I've payed for an OS. I don't think you should have to pay for something more than once just because it's full of bugs and they (microsoft) needs to come out with a product to fix it. I pirated photshop for a less scrupulous reason. I'm cheap and don't want to shell out $300. I pay for the majority of games I play and if I like the mp3 I'll buy the cd. But should morals really be considered in this, we are talking about 1's and 0's for that matter.

[BadJokes]

[QUOTE]
play and if I like the mp3 I'll buy the cd. But should morals really be considered in this, we are talking about 1's and 0's for that matter.

I think we are talking about much more than ones and zeros. We are talking about the time and hard work that someone put into writing software.

For shareware, that person trusts you to pay a (usually) small amount.

I can understand not wanting to pay hundreds of dollars for software, but no one forces you to. If the price is to high, use something else. If you don't want yo pay $300 for PhotoShop, use gimp, it's free.

warez is illegal, imoral, and yes I am a hypocrite.

Cheers,

[dspeidel]

I love shareware and freeware. I also have my share of "backup" CDs. I am in the software Development field and the more I write the more I realize that I am deproving my fellow developers of income by using warez sites -so I don't. If I need something I ask my manager to approve it. If that fails and I still need, it these days I buy it.

[ivan37]

Being a poor college student, I can't afford to purchase software all the time. I can't afford Visual Studio, Borland C++, Windows XP, MS Office, etc. All of these programs are on the school's computers, though. My (poor?) excuse for downloading these programs is that if I didn't have the programs, I would just be using one of the many school computers. Rather, I save time running into school by using the pirated copies on my computer.

Granted, once I have some money I will be purchasing my software.

[TeKRoMaNCeR]

I more than appreciate the hard work programmers invest into making their products... For example.. I will buy every game I play, before I even think of downloading it on a warez site.. But.. Take Photoshop for example, as many posts on this topic have... Photoshop is upgraded constantly... I don't even know which is the current copy.. maybe Photoshop 6? Well.. regardless.. $300 is a lot of money, especially for a computer-savvy person who can't get a decent job because he or she does not have the documentation to prove it.. So, yes.. I am in college as well.. and I am unemployed.. However this is all besides my point, I find $300 to be an absurd price for Photoshop.. After all.. As a mediocre programmer, everytime I update one of my programs.. that's just it.. I'm updating it.. It's not a brand new program... What is the difference between Photoshop 5 and Photoshop 6? About a hundred bucks lets say... and maybe the ability to smudge 600 pixels at a time, rather than 550? A few new features? It's still the same program.. If Diablo II, was merely an upgraded version of Diablo I, they would call it another expansion... But it's not an expansion, it's a whole new game.. Photoshop 5 and 6 are not different, besides several new features.. as Diablo adds several new characters and items.. I think productivity software should be held accountable under the same rule, Photoshop 6.. is just an expansion of Photoshop 5.. The term upgrade works as well.. shelling out $300 bucks now, doesn't guarantee that you won't have to shell out another $300 when Photoshop 7 comes out.. I think $100 is a reasonable price for a productivity program.. Games are about half that at around $50.. and expansions can be as high as another $50..

Rather than babble on and on... I'll let the posters here decide if they agree with me or not..

=]: TeKRoMaNCeR

[petemcevoy]

Nobody's forcing you to upgrade your version of photoshop, if you think the additional functionality is worth the extra $$$, then you pay it - if not, work away with the version you have.