Flyingwizard wroteAs far as I know most open-source alternatives are able to get most of the job done in a neat and efficient way, unless ofc the prestige of having you without your branded toolkit bites you in the guts. Nothing justifies piracy.
To be honest, FlashDevelop (a Flash/Flex open source authoring tool) is much better than the over-priced Adobe Flash IDE. The only problem is that it doesn't have a GUI (bummer). That's why design my Flash work inside the Flash IDE and then do all the code work in FlashDevelop which has amazing code hinting, intellisense and debugging capabilities.
nuclearcat wroteIf everybody around you will steal cars, you will steal too? Just because you cannot afford new Lexus or BMW.
wait wait are you saying cars are like softwares if that is the case then no need to continue this bs nonsense
i dont steal cars lol i only download cracked softwares i dont crack them the logic is gone already!
nuclearcat wroteYesterday i see latest and official Office and Windows in BHV and Virgin.
well did you find office 2010 i was talking about , my point is we dont the latest updates again no need to continue
nuclearcat wroteLet's say you will do hardwork, after 10 year you will buy boat.
Someone will steal your boat, drink on it, and make a hole, so it is drowned. His excuse - he need it just for one day. Police will release him, because by YOUR logic - he is right.
lol from software to boat why not a house again im downloading im not the cracker
nuclearcat wrote6 - government have contracts with Microsoft and paying YOUR money to them. The more you steal, the more control Microsoft and others have on YOUR government. And next time your government will try to raise head, they will push them to ground, just by best argument - you have PIRACY, your citizens steal our property, your country at the end owe us a lot of money. You belong to US, and just shut up, and do what we ask, or we will take our property by arresting your bank accounts.
excuse me this government your talking about is leaded by thieves already
nuclearcat wroteAs software developer i will say - you are thief. Face that.
Thiefs have same excuses.
well as a grownup you lack logic and i dont need to face anything from you
noobs are everywhere
nuclearcat wroteNo retailers? Oh,oh,oh. I don't believe.

1)Go to Virgin. Generic software available there
2)Get internet credit card, and buy online anywhere on this planet.
3)Use bank transfer at the end and buy again, in any corner of this planet
who said i wouldn't do that if only if i can download 8gb in a blink oh wait we live in lebanon , man we are in lebanon we cant do what your saying fix the issues then you can argue , i wouldnt buy cracked games for my xbox before i unlocked it to play with any backup dvd , i went to virgin , to nino , everywhere i knew and guess what the games were 1 year old , i struggled 3 months and then i cracked my xbox

if you want to make sure everything your doing is perfectly legit you will suffer , if you want everything to be easy to do or myassar you will find many doors opened just for you and anyone else

buddy im 21 years old im not living in a fantasy when i work , i can try at least !
nuclearcat wrote
Aj_BlaZ wrotedeep down i know its wrong downloading cracked softwares , but i have too many reasons why i do that

1- i cant afford the money but if i do i wont buy it either cause i dont see anyone around me do the crazy thing and buy it
If everybody around you will steal cars, you will steal too? Just because you cannot afford new Lexus or BMW.
no but if i could Copy a car i would ;)
arithma wroteIf the government is already paying for it, why should I?
They pay for their copies.
If the person next to me is getting CS5 for free, and getting more work than I can without it, how could I stay competitive?
Many ways. Use gimp, if doesn't fit your needs - improve it.
The reality is much less idealistic than idealists would like.
Nevertheless, today there are a lot of alternatives for those who want to go purely ethical. Just don't feel superior by doing so.
It is not matter idealistic or not.
It is matter of stealing others property.

At same time i disagree with software patents for example.
I agree with everything nuc is saying. I'll expand on it later.

Bottom line is if you cannot afford it, don't steal it.
Aj_BlaZ wrotewait wait are you saying cars are like softwares if that is the case then no need to continue this bs nonsense
i dont steal cars lol i only download cracked softwares i dont crack them the logic is gone already!
You don't make tools to steal cars, but you are using ready made tools to steal

Aj_BlaZ wrotewell did you find office 2010 i was talking about , my point is we dont the latest updates again no need to continue
I told, i seen 2010 in BHV. I'm pretty sure you didn't try much to find.
You don't have internet? For latest updates... hehe.
Aj_BlaZ wrotelol from software to boat why not a house again im downloading im not the cracker
If you see laptop that owner left (and he go to toilet) that just laying on the table, you just take it?
It is called - stealing.
Aj_BlaZ wrotewell as a grownup you lack logic and i dont need to face anything from you
noobs are everywhere
Nothing to LOL, you are even not enough smart to understand, how software can be owned by someone.

P.S. Debate that software is copyable... and thats good.
If it was not, then windows should cost few billions, because they was spent for it's development.
Raficoo wroteno but if i could Copy a car i would ;)
It is too difficult process... and materials cost a lot.

If car can be copied like software - most luxury one would cost also $100-$200. Most of this price will be R&D costs.
What are you preaching: Thou shall not steal.? Something similar?
nuclearcat wrote
Aj_BlaZ wrotewait wait are you saying cars are like softwares if that is the case then no need to continue this bs nonsense
i dont steal cars lol i only download cracked softwares i dont crack them the logic is gone already!
You don't make tools to steal cars, but you are using ready made tools to steal

Aj_BlaZ wrotewell did you find office 2010 i was talking about , my point is we dont the latest updates again no need to continue
I told, i seen 2010 in BHV. I'm pretty sure you didn't try much to find.
You don't have internet? For latest updates... hehe.
Aj_BlaZ wrotelol from software to boat why not a house again im downloading im not the cracker
If you see laptop that owner left (and he go to toilet) that just laying on the table, you just take it?
It is called - stealing.
Aj_BlaZ wrotewell as a grownup you lack logic and i dont need to face anything from you
noobs are everywhere
Nothing to LOL, you are even not enough smart to understand, how software can be owned by someone.

P.S. Debate that software is copyable... and thats good.
If it was not, then windows should cost few billions, because they was spent for it's development.
man i dont steal cars, boats , laptops anything related to real life oh God

ill try to lower my IQ , ok softwares are like many lines of codes , information , packaged in one file called .exe im using that .exe for my own this .exe is not a car nor a boat ....

i dont want to make this even worse :) my friend is working with an It department he asked me to give him the link of office 2010 and its keygen to install it on their system , huzaaaa

i bet they'r using cracked windows server 2008 :)

yes i know if i own a legit software it will be fantastic but who cares anymore , i live in lebanon thats for sure

few days ago we were having a lecture from microsoft in our college the representative of microsoft said we will give for all you legit windows 7 copies instead of your cracked one in front of all the students (it was a trial btw) , he admitted its a fact and you need to know that dont attack anyone using cracked softwares saying they used to steal No they are crackers using illegal copies
nuclearcat wrote
Raficoo wroteno but if i could Copy a car i would ;)
It is too difficult process... and materials cost a lot.

If car can be copied like software - most luxury one would cost also $100-$200. Most of this price will be R&D costs.
Physically, Yes. Virtually, Copy Paste isn't difficult ;)

so this idea can't be applied IRL.

some reasons i consider usually Warez is widely used here:

1. People in Leb don't have as much money to spend on Legit Software as People (for example) in the US (See GDP/Capita).

2. well, the Stores offcourse. Not everybody lives in Beirut to get the software/Games from Virgin, so they simply go that "2min walk to the Store and get the 5,000 DvD9 Game/Sofware" + Considering in other Cities(Saida for example) doesn't have Legit Stores (other than buying Ps3 games)

3. Buying Software Online is Legit, but let's not forget the Fact that Paypal Forbids CCs from Lebanon and alot of Products online are bought using Paypal + even if Paypal allowed CCs here, let's not forget our Internet Connection, Slow speeds + high prices + Super Limitation = unless u feel like paying 400,000+L.L Extra for the 10-100s of GBs on the games/Software, not gonna happen.

4. CopyRight Enforcement, in Lebanon is it few to none. They are not raiding DvD stores like in the past + even if they did, the store owners get Early news of any incoming Raid and Hide the DvDs n lock down the stores, After a Raid is done, it's back to bussiness for them(which by the looks of it is MAJOR in Lebanon) :)

5. The Lebanese Mentality, We want these things cheap/free. At a young age noOne tells Kids to buy Legit things, go to that store and get any DvD for 5,000L.L. Psychologically, they'll grow up thinking that games are normally bought at these prices with no1 getting hurt/stolen.


CopyRight Protection in Lebanon only happens in Lebanese Forums ;)

but if you look outside(or at any of your Friend's Desktop/Laptops) it's a Whole different Story. So if no Major Crackdown happens(and i doubt it will) i don't expect the Warez is fade out of here any time soon. :)

i'm sure MOST of the companies in Leb use non-legit things, even in my Uni they all use Pirated Windows 7 :)

and even almost all of my friends have Win 7 Ultimate on their Laptops(which normally would cost $300 ) :O
Look guys there is one thing everyone who prefers commercial software should know, if you really want something and it has a price tag you have to pay for it or else this is stealing. And please don't tell me it is different, not it is not. Software is just like any kind of product, if you need it you have to pay for it IMO. Sometimes I do use pirated stuff(rarely) and I actually feel guilty about it and always try to use alternatives as much as possible also I make use of the free versions that Microsoft themselves provide for students on dream spark.
i'm sure MOST of the companies in Leb use non-legit things, even in my Uni they all use Pirated Windows 7 :)

and even almost all of my friends have Win 7 Ultimate on their Laptops(which normally would cost $300 ) :O
This is not something to be proud of, but be ashamed that we live in an extremely ignorant society. Instead of people here embracing open source and free technologies and trying to make the best out of them as an alternative to piracy software, they go for piracy. Organizational and Educational Institutions are the most blamed.

I know it feels really appealing to get something that costs 100s of dollars for less than 5 dollars, but I think we have to start to learn to adopt free software in our homes and institutions if we can't afford to pay. The more people move to free software alternatives the more companies that live on commercial software will start to decrease their price tags. After all even if someone is using pirated software, the software producer is still benefiting indirectly by having his software still popular among people and the market monopoly the same.

The first step of solving this issue is understanding and making the people around us understand but 90% of Lebanese people don't give a s*** about what we are saying here.
The more people move to free software alternatives the more companies that live on commercial software will start to decrease their price tags.
Absolutely true. Even if CS5 (for example) is way better than GIMP, the only way Adobe can put a 1000$+ price tag on it is because people are too quick to dismiss GIMP (and rather go for piracy).

Funny how people rather be pirates over free men.
people we live in lebanon :) come on the government in lebanon is the number 1 thief.
and the government don't care about copied,hacked,cracked or whatever software because if she did she would close all the shops that have cracked and hacked games or software that is 90% of all shops in lebanon or maybe more. and we don't have a law in lebanon that say don't buy hacked stuff so it's not considered stealing in lebanon because if it was 90% of lebanese people will be in prison right now:P
u see there is a game named RISEN it have been released for almost 2 years and couldn't find it in the 4-5 shops i go to so i had to download it eventually for free about a month ago. face it we are in lebanon.. if all the shops have original copies then i'll buy an original copy with a smile on my face.but when 90% of lebanese people buy hacked cds i won't go pay 50-200$ to buy a cd while my neighbor bought it in 4,000LBP
Raficoo wrote1. People in Leb don't have as much money to spend on Legit Software as People (for example) in the US (See GDP/Capita).
It is not an excuse, one more time again.
Pirates in Somali shooting people, because they want to drive luxury cars, they want fast internet and etc. Their GDP is low, and they cannot afford them, so they have right to do that?
2. well, the Stores offcourse. Not everybody lives in Beirut to get the software/Games from Virgin, so they simply go that "2min walk to the Store and get the 5,000 DvD9 Game/Sofware" + Considering in other Cities(Saida for example) doesn't have Legit Stores (other than buying Ps3 games)
Again.... same explanation: ONLINE. Credit card. Wire transfer.
3. Buying Software Online is Legit, but let's not forget the Fact that Paypal Forbids CCs from Lebanon and alot of Products online are bought using Paypal + even if Paypal allowed CCs here, let's not forget our Internet Connection, Slow speeds + high prices + Super Limitation = unless u feel like paying 400,000+L.L Extra for the 10-100s of GBs on the games/Software, not gonna happen.
Most of software sellers accept wire transfer.
4. CopyRight Enforcement, in Lebanon is it few to none. They are not raiding DvD stores like in the past + even if they did, the store owners get Early news of any incoming Raid and Hide the DvDs n lock down the stores, After a Raid is done, it's back to bussiness for them(which by the looks of it is MAJOR in Lebanon) :)
On rise. Microsoft trying to raid our office :-). I've prepared surprise to them, i uninstall even legit windows, because they was used only for employees needs (games). Our needs already fitting for Linux.
5. The Lebanese Mentality, We want these things cheap/free. At a young age noOne tells Kids to buy Legit things, go to that store and get any DvD for 5,000L.L. Psychologically, they'll grow up thinking that games are normally bought at these prices with no1 getting hurt/stolen.
Then it is parasitic mentality. But i think it is more non-awareness, than mentality. Most of people don't understand what's the point and why they should buy legal software.
And finally other countries will enforce you to buy, sooner or later, and if you try to fix that mentality - it will be easier for you and your country. Additionally, when you will have experience switching to opensource + legal software - you can do good money helping others.
but if you look outside(or at any of your Friend's Desktop/Laptops) it's a Whole different Story. So if no Major Crackdown happens(and i doubt it will) i don't expect the Warez is fade out of here any time soon. :)
Pretty easy, i forbid to use computers in office that contain warez software. Now turn to laptops, i am doing automated system that will not allow unchecked hardware+software to use internet in office.

It happens in Russia and Ukraine, and a lot of techs go to jail. Just because owners of companies don't want to go there, they point finger to sysadmins and programmers.
nuclearcat wroteNo retailers? Oh,oh,oh. I don't believe.

1)Go to Virgin. Generic software available there
2)Get internet credit card, and buy online anywhere on this planet.
3)Use bank transfer at the end and buy again, in any corner of this planet
Are you kidding me ? Virgin ? all they have is outdated software and games, only a few new ps3 games and thats it. Plus its the only place that actually gets legit software (maybe BHV too) buts thats not an excuse.

I have a credit card and i buy software online. But for games that are 14GB huge what should i do concerning my internet connection ? I have a 2.5GB limit per month and my ISP FUPs me for downloading at night.

So in conclusion legit and original software titles can be bought everywhere on this planet except for Lebanon.
yorgi recheck the sent mails , 2 months ago for human computer interaction course ;)
You know it's a shame that we live in Lebanon. Even when we intend to get open-source software we just can't. I want to get the Express versions of Visual Studio 2010 and SQL Server 2010 but downloading them is going to cost me a huge bunch, while on the other hand, people all around the world would simply download them in a couple of hours and not worry about the $$ they're going to pay for the extra bandwidth they've consumed. While that's the case, do you think I'll be willing to download the express versions for "free" or simply go to the DVD store right across the street and get the professional editions for a couple of dollars?

Think about it... It's not totally our fault, it's mostly due to the government's lack of responsibility and concern for the people's needs...
I agree, government is purely at fault. Games selection is horrible for consoles and for computers. I haven't modded any console since I'm lucky enough to have several stores to go buy them for the max price of $70. And when I was in Lebanon, I used to have my family, or friends buy me games and bring them with them. Microsoft makes no money from the console, what they make money from is the peripherals and the games (through licensing).

As computer software goes, if the government really cared they'd close all these shops. Establish a duty free for all software and make relations with all the software companies for lower priced software. With the horrible internet that people have, and the disappearance of local shops people will have to go out and buy the real version. And yes, there are cheaper versions of everything.

Adobe has cheaper retail DVD's that don't come with a box and are just the DVD itself. I'm sure you've all heard of Office for Students. And the list goes on...

I myself never bought any software from Lebanon when I lived here for 3 years. It was and still is a joke.

I do pirate movies however, cause I live in Saudi and there are no cinemas. :p
Here's why I get really pissed at people using illegal copies of softwares:

Taking a look at its history, you would see that the open source community was born from a reaction to the proprietary software movement. Until the 70s, source code was shared freely, and when companies began to close it (and claim 'intellectual property'), the open source movement was born. (It was called free software movement at the time. Moving on ...)

These programmers believed that the closed source ideologies would create the exact same problems you guys are complaining about (high prices, lack of availability, unfair distribution, ...) so they decided to give away their code for free. Out of their free will.

And do not believe that they couldn't sell their programs! People like Richard Stallman, Linux Torvalds, Allan Cox, Bruce Perens, Eric Raymond, ... These people are considered to be some of the best programmers of all time. Their code is literally worth millions, yet they gave it away for free. Projects like Apache, gcc, PHP, Python, Mozilla, bison, emacs, VIM, ... were born simply so that anyone could have access to technology. And God knows they're some of the best pieces of software around.

The problems of closed-source software exists and are real. For example: Kassem asked for Visual Studio Express or SQL Server who are given away at no cost from Microsoft's website. Did you know that it is still illegal for me (living in France and having high speed connection) to download them and give them to Kassem. One of the biggest advantages of open source software is not the gratuity, but the freedom to distribute the software as you please.

By going for illegal software, you are taking down the fight of the whole community. For instance, did you know that one of the biggest constraint to Linux's adoption on the desktop is the availability of pirated Windows version. Microsoft could very easily block these as soon as they connect to the internet, yet it would NEVER do that. Same goes for Adobe products.

What we are asking is for everyone to respect the law, so that we could show the politicians how bad these laws really are.

I too do not believe in patents. I do not believe in 'intellectual property'. I believe that these are big problems. As far as the law is concerned, I am not going to pirate anything though, but rather use the power of open source to fight it.

Finally for those of you who do not believe in open source or would claim that it's not as good as its commercial equivalent, simply know that I'm not the only one on this forum to use mostly open source free applications (if not exclusively), the tech software I mentioned before rank as the best in the world, here's a movie made by 100% open source software, and there are countless GIMP professional around the world who would attest that the availability of such a tool for free (free of cost and of licensing) gives them a huge cutting edge advantage.