> How many people here on HN have used pirated software to help build a web app?
I would expect this number to be close to 0. What does this even mean?
I would expect this number to be close to 0. What does this even mean?
I recall seeing a TechStars video a few moths back where one of the guys in the program all but admitted he was a software pirate.
My modus operati when I need an expensive piece of software is to pirate half a dozen different packages that claim to do what I want, evaluate them, then purchase the one that best does the job.
Wrong? Maybe. But there is a whole lot of hype when it comes to that sort of thing and I can't afford to weed it out at full price right now. Better (less crippled) evaluations (or evals at all) would help.
Sometimes I even find that what I thought I was trying to do was not what I wanted to do after all, but I usually end up buying something.
What do you even need to pirate to make a web app?
Rails, php, apache, mysql are all free
And YES I could just use Linux, before you ask, but I'm getting quite used to TextMate.
That's not to justify anything....but since you asked...
EDIT (can't reply to comment below directly): Yes, that's true. However you would still be in violation of Apple's EULA which states that you cannot run their OS on anything other than Apple hardware. So you are still being naughty by doing this ;-)
So because you can't be bothered with using something that's free, you are going to disrespect apple's license. There are plenty of free text editors for Windows and Linux that supports most of not all of textmate's features.
Many companies decide to use GNU code in their apps. They don't get the same luxury as you. Many are sued in court and others are forced to release their own code.
You are making presumptions again here. I've tried Linux, I prefer OS X is all. As I've said already, OS X seems to be the best environment for Rails development. If I sell my startup for millions, Apple wins big through additional sales.
I'm going to bow gracefully out of this thread now, as I've said my piece. I'll leave you with a few words of wisdom from a guy a little bit richer and more successful than either of us:
"Although about 3 million computers get sold every year in China, people don't pay for the software. Someday they will, though," Gates told an audience at the University of Washington. "And as long as they're going to steal it, we want them to steal ours. They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade." - Bill Gates
http://articles.latimes.com/2006/apr/09/business/fi-micropir...
How will they get additional sales if you "sell your startup for millions"?
"I'm going to bow gracefully out of this thread now, as I've said my piece. I'll leave you with a few words of wisdom from a guy a little bit richer and more successful than either of us:"
Are you from China? If not, you don't really have a point beyond that you like to use commercial software, not pay for it, and make excuses that one day when you make it big (which statistically speaking won't happen), you will decide to pay for them.
I wish I could use the same excuses about my credit card bills and business loans.