If I made software that people cared enough about to crack and pirate, I’d be happy that it’s popular enough for that to happen.
I am a software developer but I’ve only worked on SaAS and open source projects.
Comment on Pluralistic: "If buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing"
ParsnipWitch@feddit.de 6 months agoI bet you aren’t a software developer.
puttybrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 months ago
zerofk@lemm.ee 6 months ago
I work on software which is pirated. It is even sold by crackers, who make money off my work. This does not make me proud.
What does make me proud is when a paying customer says they love a specific feature, or that our software saves them a lot of manual work.
helenslunch@feddit.nl 6 months ago
[deleted]SaltySalamander@kbin.social 6 months ago
Did you intentionally misunderstand the comment you replied to?
satan@r.nf 6 months ago
I’d be happy that it’s popular enough for that to happen.
of course you would. you would actually give them your house and wife, because you’re so proud now. right?
TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Ah yes, because downloading Shark_Tale.mp4 is exactly the same as someone taking your house away from you and obtaining your wife and having them as personal property.
Get some fucking perspective. I usually try to be polite online but this is just straight up moronic and you need to be told so bluntly.
irmoz@reddthat.com 6 months ago
Lmao
poopkins@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Pride unfortunately doesn’t pay the bills. It’s terrific that you contribute to open source, but not all commercial software can be open sourced.
psud@aussie.zone 6 months ago
Popularity opens other ways to make money. Open source is profitable for GNU. Cory Doctorow does fine.
poopkins@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect every commercial product to find profitability through exposure. I can attest to this first hand as I had published an open source Android game that was republished without ads. This led me to ultimately make the repository private, because I could not find a way to remain profitable while offering the source code and bearing the costs of labor and various cloud services.
On the flip side I guess I can take credit for the millions of installs from the other app… except they didn’t publicly acknowledge me.
ParsnipWitch@feddit.de 6 months ago
Most people who work on open source projects have a lucrative job and work on Open Source on the side. I also volunteer, but I still need a job that actually pays me as well.
Reading some of the comments here it feels like speaking to little children who believe money magically appears on their account.
aksdb@feddit.de 6 months ago
Tell me which so I can develop a competing service and steal your userbase!
iegod@lemm.ee 6 months ago
You need to disconnect the badness with the term stealing because you’re just wrong. Yeah it’s ip infringement. Yes it’s illegal. Yes people are impacted. And still… Not stealing.
Rough_N_Ready@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I have been for over 20 years actually!
ParsnipWitch@feddit.de 6 months ago
How did your employer pay your loans? Or did your money perhaps came from those people who actually do pay for in-game currency in your games?
otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 months ago
You aren’t.
ParsnipWitch@feddit.de 6 months ago
Yes I am. And the two companies I worked for both were small, offered their products for cheap and still had people pirating the modules or circumvent licensing terms. It’s a legit problem that a lot of people don’t see why they should pay for software simply because it’s sometimes easy to steal it.
CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
circumvent licensing terms
So to be clear: was it possible to purchase and own the software? Or did users have to pay a subscription for a license? Because personally I’m getting sick of every piece of software thinking it’s appropriate to require a subscription.
ParsnipWitch@feddit.de 6 months ago
How about you don’t use it if it is to be paid by subscription? How is it justified to go against an agreement just because you don’t like it?
vsh@lemm.ee 6 months ago
Then you woke up.
You’re far away from becoming even a software tester. You are merely a little meaningless particle of sand in our software engineering society. You are the living representation of zero (0) when it comes to being employed by a good company.
Pratai@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
BINGPOT.
lolcatnip@reddthat.com 6 months ago
I am.
grue@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I’m a software developer, and I endorse the grandparent comment.
ParsnipWitch@feddit.de 6 months ago
And you all just were happy and bro fisted people who ignored the licensing terms?
grue@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Yes.
Well, not literally, both because I’m more inclined to “high five” and you can’t do either gesture over the Internet. But figuratively, yes.
ParsnipWitch@feddit.de 6 months ago
Why don’t you just gift away your software than? That’s an honest question. You obviously aren’t expecting to be paid for it, do you think in general developers shouldn’t earn money with software or is it just you?