[FM Discuss] why you should stop using pirated software and learn to love freedom

Thu Feb 12 20:03:02 PST 2009

..on Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 03:42:47AM +1300, adam hyde wrote:
> hi,
> 
> I was thinking of sending this to a few lists populated by educators
> that support free software (iDC, Rhizome, Fibreculture, nettime
> etc)...comments welcome 

you and i have both waxed on about this over the years. great to see you've put
some words down. 

as someone that teaches only with free software, i agree with these points
strongly, especially in this time of so-called economic response-ability. 

below are really just minor clarifications/emphases on what you've already
expressed. nonetheless..

i do think it's a little hard-core to say that

	If you teach pirated software then you are not a supporter of the
	principles and practice of Free Software. This is true whether you run
	Ubuntu on your personal laptop or not.

.. but it simply is true, albeit a little unclear to those not versed in what
constitutes Free Software (remember, open-source to many people actively using
the term in their practice means "without copyright", "invites public
collaboration" or "public domain"!). 

perhaps it'd be better to say "if you teach software you know your students do
not own and/or cannot afford.."? that said, it seems this paragraph assumes that
people are familiar with the "principles and practice of Free Software". i guess
it comes down to who you imagine your audience is here.

regardless, the hardest point to push for free software in these difficult
economic times will be its role in the context of 'employability'. 

to these ends educators, parents and tax-payers are always going to default to
the argument that Industry Standard software best represents the interests of
students. you basically say it yourself but i think you could be even more
affirmative in the argument: teaching /only/ so-called Industry Standard
software is actually "anti-competitive", narrowing student skill-base and so
reducing possibility for innovation within their discipline: students of mine at
a workshop recently introduced themselves and their skills not as Image Makers,
3D modelers and Film Makers but as people that knew Photoshop CS, 3DSMax and
Final Cut Pro. in this way learning other suites, alongside their (stolen or
not) proprietary software, offers a more rounded education that could give
students the edge in an economic drought.

(the 'anti-competitive' argument usually strikes a positive note with the
neo-cons ;)

finally, it is the maldistribution of wealth toward - and subsequent dependence
upon - corporations that has got us into this so-called crisis. with this in
mind you can argue that free software presents a valuable opportunity to help
strengthen local tech sectors; now's a great time to take advantage of a primary
attribute unique to Free Software, mutability: save money on software licenses
and invest in localisation. put money into local free software projects and push
that software into schools in the interests of a richer future for local markets
and their makers.

cheers,

-- 
Julian Oliver
home: New Zealand
based: Madrid, Spain
currently: Madrid, Spain
about: http://julianoliver.com

> ----------
> Ever pirated software? Most people I know have done this and felt fine
> about it. Downloading a cracked copy of Photoshop feels ok, or
> installing Windows and looking at a serialz site is something that
> doesn't raise much of an issue to many people. Often the software they
> need is just too expensive, they are used to it or need it or want to
> try it, and can't afford the expensive licensing fee, 
> 
> Students do this a lot - how can a first year design student actually
> afford Adobe Creative Suite? Many can't. Its also true in business,
> although in my experience sooner or later most people in business buy
> the software either out of a sense of moral obligation or fear of being
> caught. 
> 
> So this seems ok. I mean, it seems to be actually tolerated by software
> companies. The film industry might bust a student for illegally
> downloading a movie, but software companies tend to be a little more
> lenient. Why make bad press when you know a student will eventually get
> a job and come good. In fact its great that Universities teach their
> products in the first place. This is how a tool becomes an industry
> standard - so no need to kick up a fuss. Actually, software companies
> can very easily justify the use of unlicensed software used by
> students as a marketing cost. 
> 
> While some might object to the role Universities play in criminalising
> their students and playing the role of out-sourced marketing
> departments for proprietary software companies, thats not the real
> problem. 
> 
> I don't mean that educators are just wrong to assume teaching
> proprietary software gets students jobs. That seems obviously stupid. We all know that teaching a
> tool doesn't make you a good crafts person. Teaching the craft makes
> you a good crafts person. Tools come into it, but tools change,
> especially in any industry that uses software (which is every
> industry). Paradigms shift and industry fashions change. Sometimes a
> dominant player is over-run by a new comer, or, more often, the vendors
> themselves change their own tools either to get you to buy the new
> version, or (less commonly) to make their software better. Nothing is
> stable in software, so knowing software concepts is much more important
> than knowing which tool bar to click. 
> 
> However, while poorly equipping their students for the real world is
> probably pretty high on the list of known sins for educators, I'm not
> an academic, I'm in the Free Software business. When these actions
> effect Free Software I feel the pain more acutely. Its a simple
> product of being normally self absorbed. When pirated software is
> taught I feel the impact more keenly when it directly effects me. 
> 
> My job is partly about promoting the adoption of free software,
> and so when I see pirated software being taught in educational
> institutions I feel obliged to point out that pirated software hurts
> Free Software way more than it hurts Proprietary Software. 
> 
> Pirated software hinders the understanding, acceptance, distribution
> and uptake of Free Software while simultaneously promoting proprietary
> software. Its as simple as that. 
> 
> If you teach pirated software then you are not a supporter of the
> principles and practice of Free Software. This is true whether you run
> Ubuntu on your personal laptop or not.
> 
> Teaching pirated software, while providing a fantastic marketing
> opportunity for proprietary software vendors, criminalising students,
> and poorly equipping them for their craft, is also joining the fight
> against Free Software.
> 
> I would say it actually goes further than that but I was trying to keep
> my arguments less ideologically driven and more pragmatic. I also need
> to ponder it more...something about the fact that teaching pirated
> software puts a price on freedom, and that you do not support the
> principles of libre, if you promote it as secondary to the principles
> of gratis...perhaps for another post...
> 
> adam
> 
> 
> -- 
> Adam Hyde
> Founder FLOSS Manuals
> German mobile : + 49 15 2230 54563
> Email : adam at flossmanuals.net
> 
> "Free manuals for free software"
> http://www.flossmanuals.net/about
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> Discuss at lists.flossmanuals.net
> http://lists.flossmanuals.net/listinfo.cgi/discuss-flossmanuals.net