question: why pirate? Options

[*kryogenix*]

I'm studying Computer Science, so hopefully I can become a computer programmer. But, I'm a bit scared that I won't be able to eat.

Why?

Piracy.

I hear things about people pirating this, bragging about how they found cracks for photoshop, not fearing the legal issues and the works.

Piracy screws over the people making the product. When you download a copy of software in place of legitimately buying it, you are taking away profit of the company. Yes, I've heard the argument that "they make millions, it's ok if those greedy companies lose a few thousand dollars." You're right. Some companies don't need the extra money and should be punished for their greed *coughMicrosoftcough*, but not all companies are like this.

Why do this to Adobe? Photoshop is probably the most famous image editing program, but it's not the only one. People have told me that they pirate photoshop so that they can learn to design graphics without having to pay hundreds of dollars upfront. But you don't have to pirate software to learn how to design graphics. There are cheaper and even free alternatives to photoshop, but people still pirate.

So my question is why?

[micron]

kryogenix,
your main concern shouldnt be piracy but the outsourcing of it jobs to countries with lower wages. as the argument goes, why pay 20$ an hour for a us programmer when you can get one as competent in india for 1$.

as for piracy, you have to remember that it is usually the teenagers that engage in piracy, kids that dont have money to buy the software product in the first place. through piracy, kids obtain the software, and become familiar and perhaps even love the software, which will dictate their software preference once they go out in the workforce working for a corporation which all have strict adherance to anti-piracy measures.

now the question is, why do kids grow up with certain preferences of software over others in the same field? because of familiarity, which more or less is made possible through piracy. so in this case, piracy can become the deciding factor of a kids potential software revenues. ofcourse tell this to the software companies and theyll all bulk, but i for one, if i am ever to become a programmer (i wont), i will be chugging code in ms visual studios, because early on, i obtained a copy of it through a friend and used it ever since as my main programming ide. sure theres other great products, borland, eclipse, but ive come to become familiar and love vstudio, and vstudio i will stick in the workplace.

[*kryogenix*]

kryogenix,
your main concern shouldnt be piracy but the outsourcing of it jobs to countries with lower wages. as the argument goes, why pay 20$ an hour for a us programmer when you can get one as competent in india for 1$.

/me shrugs

I know this, it's just that when I ask the question "why pirate?" people ask me why i care.

Anyway, I've been convinced by parents/friends/the news/gut instinct not to become a programmer, I just said that at the beginning for effect.

as for piracy, you have to remember that it is usually the teenagers that engage in piracy, kids that dont have money to buy the software product in the first place. through piracy, kids obtain the software, and become familiar and perhaps even love the software, which will dictate their software preference once they go out in the workforce working for a corporation which all have strict adherance to anti-piracy measures.

Student editions are usually cheaper. If I don't have money to buy bread, should I steal it? However, if there is a substitute for bread that is free, why not take it?

now the question is, why do kids grow up with certain preferences of software over others in the same field? because of familiarity, which more or less is made possible through piracy. so in this case, piracy can become the deciding factor of a kids potential software revenues. ofcourse tell this to the software companies and theyll all bulk, but i for one, if i am ever to become a programmer (i wont), i will be chugging code in ms visual studios, because early on, i obtained a copy of it through a friend and used it ever since as my main programming ide. sure theres other great products, borland, eclipse, but ive come to become familiar and love vstudio, and vstudio i will stick in the workplace.

Vstudio would be my choice if I could afford it. But since I can't, i'm stuck with MinGW.

Now I understand and empathize a little better. Companies say "experince with <insert software here> is a plus" when hiring, so I can see why people prefer certain software over others. But still, is this a good reason to steal?