venting, paid software, piracy, etc.
I'm kind of sick of the way some people talk about paid software, going so far as to call people 'freeloaders' or worse things when they use cracked versions.
Like, yeah, sure, software developers need to eat. But *so do other people* and the reality is that an awful lot of people who use cracked software do so because they literally cannot afford it.
If you care so much about sustainable software development, why does your thought process terminate at "charge a purchase/subscription fee and demand that people pay it", instead of continuing to think about *more inclusive* ways to make things sustainable?
Why do you refuse to think about anything beyond "every single user must pay"?
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re: venting, paid software, piracy, etc.
@joepie91 one example of paid software that isn't "every single user must pay" is DeArrow. it's actual purpose can be found on https://dearrow.ajay.app/ but upon installation, you are greeted with a $1 paywall (that gives a license key), with an option to get free access after waiting an amount of time (the amount of time has varied, and is currently about 12 hours). and a trial of course.
that's not the only method to get access. other semi-official methods include messing with the extension to bypass the paywall, using other people's license keys (like mime: Fh0Lk-df841), and third-party key generators (with key gen music). they'll all pretty much exist forever since the developer's intention isn't to price anyone out but to strongly encourage giving some money (so that the dev has money to continue working on the extensions), and the regulation around license keys is explicitly none ("Sharing is caring" is below the license key when viewed in the extension, dev statement, etc.)
in the end, everyone with or without the ability to pay gets access, and the dev gets money from those who have paid, and is a sizeable chunk of money received by the dev. (pie chart from discord guild and 2023)
Re venting, paid software, piracy, etc.
@joepie91
Bc It is a "I suffer so everyone must too" view of life. No solidarity. It even weirder when they defend corpos like Microsoft or Adobe but not small developers.
I support every type of worker adding tipping links to their socials free of harassment. Tipping jars are open!
Support your faves!
And also I get frustrated when the biggest software corpos add predatory/unfair more expensive paying schemes (cof like Adobe cancellation huge bill cof) and no developers there see an improvement in their salaries! Argh
venting, paid software, piracy, etc. (2)
Like, there's at least two parties involved in every transaction, and if you're only ever thinking about the needs of one of them, what the fuck are you even doing? Because it sure isn't "making sure people have food on the table"!