Just now I chat with my 1-year-didn't-see friend, and every time chat about PC, I will bring in genuine software matter, and end up with I am like a show off guy.
I always said use pirated software is wrong, and some people knew that too(just some, not all, that's our lousy Malaysian education). Although majority of applications in my PC are open source, however, I can't let my PC fully genuine too, I using pirated Nero, Flash, Dreamweaver, Microsoft Office, and Adobe Photoshop, just because their costs are too high. Just Adobe Photoshop will cost RM2400, or 1 month professional's salary.
This is Malaysia
Even from my view, the pirated industry is dying slowly, but original software do not grow. I still can't get original software easily. Government know that pirated software is not a respect to intellectual property, and destroy this notorious industry in Malaysia, but, government just destroy, but not encourage sellers to sell it and users to buy it. So the first reason of that cause pirated is education, even in most schools and campus, their PCs are using pirated software and operating system, so how you want to educate young generation to use genuine?
Salary Ratio
This is the second reason that cause pirated spread so fast in Malaysia. Even in a proper educated society, money is still the factor that decide what we act. In developing countries like Malaysia, where our salaries and spending ratio can't compete with other advance country. In United States, their citizen can spend just 1/10 of their monthly salary to buy a Windows Vista Ultimate Retail, but in Malaysia, it will use up more than half of our monthly salary for the same product. So, how can we support genuine all the time?
People always misunderstanding
Last time when I am young, most people still playing VCDs, include me, not much CD-ROM at that time. And those who afford to buy original VCDs is considered as rich. That wrong concept bring forward to this era, where information technology took place with so fast the pace, most people still think that use original software is rich and consider as a show off action. Why nobody stand from another view: software engineers design the software, use several months or years and marketing cost, the total cost may up maybe million to billion, but people just steal it and use it, and said:"You all stupid la! I spent RM5 can get already!"
You steal other people hardwork, you make the whole software price in the market increase, you killed a numbers of job opportunities. Then, who is stupid? But, I am half the stupid too, because I am still in developing Malaysia.
Self satisfactory?! Of What?
Another reason I heard from friends who use pirated is because they like the feeling when successfully crack the software. That's good from educational and skill purposes, but using it is another story. Most crack on the Internet is not clean, which mean beside crack the program for you, it will bring in 'something' into your PC, like viruses, Trojan, and even open up your security backdoor.
Thanks to Microsoft MSDNAA, (MSDN Academic Alliance), IT students can get themselves free product keys and access to several learning products like Vista and Visual Studio for free, and from there, hope IT students can learn what is genuine and protect it.
For businesses
If I saw end users using counterfeit software, still can unwillingly acceptable, but when I see businesses that use pirated software to produce profit, feel so angry, especially Internet Cafe. Recently heard from my friend said that an Internet Cafe in Butterworth, Penang was bankrupt due to discovery of the used of pirated software for business. You earn big, but you lose bigger, so what's the point?
I think I am too persistent to genuine. But still will try my best to use genuine and open source, instead of crack it.
*You can get open source easily from www.Download.com, set license to free and filter it out before download.
When I said use original better, don't say I am show off la...
