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I put myself through university and gained extensive skills using pirated software. At the time I decided I would do what needed to be done and because I could.

I put myself through university and gained extensive skills using pirated software. At the time I decided I would do what needed to be done and because I could. I resolved however to get licensed copies once I was working. 7 years later I have an annual budget of £2.3 million and am responsible for buying decisions relating to the software we use. Autodesk, Macromedia (until a while ago) and Adobe have all been represented largely. All I can say is that at the time, I used software piracy to my advantage - now I am trying to repay my debt.

hollywoodcole 18y ago
Amen do that! I would have never learned Photoshop or Dreamweaver without pirated software. This was me in college. Doing that under your own company would be a bad thing to do. Don't risk it unless your using the software for personal education gain.
- deleted 18y ago
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- popat 18y ago
  like bigtoga said We wouldn't be here where we are today - and this is same with almost all s/w creator ...
- silencio 18y ago
  The upside to buying software as a student is that these companies sell them with a massive discount..or give them away for free. The downside being it's usually only for noncommercial usage.
bigtoga 18y ago
Reminds me of this: http://www.learnitfirst.com/AboutUs/CorporatePhilosophy.aspx http://www.learnitfirst.com/AboutUs/CorporatePhilosophy.aspx "...many of us thirty-somethings wouldn't be where we are today if we hadn't coughfoundcough a copy of Windows NT4 somewhere. Don't steal our stuff, please. We try to make it inexpensive enough so that anyone can afford it." disclaimer: I founded LearnItFirst.com :)
popat 18y ago
i think almost every s/w professional from BRIC have used pirated s/w - in fact i read this somewhere that we would have huge skills shortage if there were no pirated s/w available to these smart people of 3rd world countries ... and if the s/w professional were in shortage then prices of tons of products (from air line tickets to chocolate bars) would be much higher than what it is right now ... so in a sense pirated product did created jobs and revenue and economy .... it gave an opportunity to smart people to learn new skills and get employment.
PI 18y ago
agreed I've pirated s/w which would have been to expensive to buy purely to learn new skills, however I suppose, I was lucky when I was taking my first steps with Photoshop my uncle bought me a copy.

hollywoodcole 18y ago

Amen do that! I would have never learned Photoshop or Dreamweaver without pirated software. This was me in college. Doing that under your own company would be a bad thing to do. Don't risk it unless your using the software for personal education gain.

deleted 18y ago
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popat 18y ago
like bigtoga said We wouldn't be here where we are today - and this is same with almost all s/w creator ...
silencio 18y ago
The upside to buying software as a student is that these companies sell them with a massive discount..or give them away for free. The downside being it's usually only for noncommercial usage.

bigtoga 18y ago

Reminds me of this: http://www.learnitfirst.com/AboutUs/CorporatePhilosophy.aspx http://www.learnitfirst.com/AboutUs/CorporatePhilosophy.aspx "...many of us thirty-somethings wouldn't be where we are today if we hadn't coughfoundcough a copy of Windows NT4 somewhere. Don't steal our stuff, please. We try to make it inexpensive enough so that anyone can afford it." disclaimer: I founded LearnItFirst.com :)

popat 18y ago

i think almost every s/w professional from BRIC have used pirated s/w - in fact i read this somewhere that we would have huge skills shortage if there were no pirated s/w available to these smart people of 3rd world countries ... and if the s/w professional were in shortage then prices of tons of products (from air line tickets to chocolate bars) would be much higher than what it is right now ... so in a sense pirated product did created jobs and revenue and economy .... it gave an opportunity to smart people to learn new skills and get employment.

PI 18y ago

agreed I've pirated s/w which would have been to expensive to buy purely to learn new skills, however I suppose, I was lucky when I was taking my first steps with Photoshop my uncle bought me a copy.