[Rufus]

I just read a thread elsewhere, which refers to copied versions of popular software.
Now, I have a friend who's hobby seems to be copying, and / or cracking popular software.
He never sells it. It just seems that he is a gatherer. In fact, he now has so much software that he rarely gets to understand any given programme. Spoilt for choice I suppose.........
The funny thing is that he's quite well off financially, and earns about 104k AUD per year.
He's always used to offer me freebie titles, and I accepted them years ago.
Not anymore though, obviously.

Strange world, 'eh?

[dewy]

OpenSource, the answer to all your questions, save time cracking, more time for modding =)

[shuttertalk]

Yeah, I used to to use lots of pirated stuff when I was still in school, as I was strapped for $$. Heheh. Nowadays, since I've got a full time job, I think there's no excuse, so I try to make sure that all my software is legit, or I use freeware versions.

For freeware stuff, I frequently visit:
http://www.snapfiles.com/freeware
http://nonags.com/nonags

[peter]

i shoulld lookinto this freeware stuff..
if you get caught for piracy..
10k fine ~_~

[dave]

yeah had my first Chemical Engineering tutorial today and used a piece of software called Hysys which basically simulates reactions and calculates values for you. The first thing the tutor said was "there is an illegal copy on the internet- do not download it. If you do you will be caught."

Monash use the 'Students Edition' which is worth more than $10,000. The one on the net is the professional edition which is worth even more.

[dave]

so if you think about it if you download it and don't get caught (you only get caught because the professional edition is not compatible with the student edition so if you do something at home it won't work at uni..... that's how they now you d/l it...... unless you are very very rich) you save money.

If you get caught you break even seeing as the professional edition cost more than the $10K fine.......

hahahahaha
just joking

[adam]

Haha! so it's cheaper to pay the fine and keep your copy

[dave]

yeah.... but I suspect the fine is probably relative to how much the software costs to purchase. Otherwise it would seem silly that the fine is cheaper than buying the software legit