2 ms·

And Western European too. Just ask about Italy, Spain, France in the 90's... Companies did for working environments, with big software from AutoCAD and such, b

by anthk 1y ago

And Western European too. Just ask about Italy, Spain, France in the 90's... Companies did for working environments, with big software from AutoCAD and such, but no one paid it for learning purposes.

diggan 1y ago
> And Western European too. Just ask about Italy, Spain, France in the 90's... And Sweden and... I'm starting to think this was worldwide, or at least "anywhere-outside-the-US". Many memories of me and friends hanging out on DC++, using cracked applications wherever we could, and most people around me did the same too.
- eps 1y ago
  > And Sweden Did you guys have dedicated open-air markets selling CDs with "software collections", "Windows essentials", "The best of Adobe" for $2 ... ? I remember visiting one in Moscow and it was wild. Every piece of software, including like Oracle and SAP ... lol. All for peanuts.
  - diggan 1y ago
    Not that I'm aware of, but I also grew up in the 90s on a island with 700 inhabitants, so not exactly a good representation :) We were mostly sharing stuff once a quarter on LAN parties. But I do remember visiting either Turkey or Bulgaria in the early 2000s with my mom, and coming across one of those markets, and had a blast buying cracked C&C Generals for dirt cheap, together with a bunch of PS2 games I couldn't actually run on my non-cracked PS2 :D
  - pjmlp 1y ago
    In Portugual yes, you could easily find shops close by to universtities with folders containing endless lists of software, it was a matter to place your order and come back to pick up it later on. During the 8 bit days all tapes were clearly copied, many of them even had B&W copies of the instructions, clearly cutted out with scissors. However this is all gone, after our involvement into EU all these kind of stuff started to be cracked down. It is still around if you look for it, e.g. cracked game consoles and cable TV boxes, but it will be clearly taken care of if found by authorities.
zerr 1y ago
In the East, even businesses and governments used to run on such copies. Microsoft conveniently closed eyes, otherwise nobody would use Windows, Office or any other software from them.

by anthk 1y ago

And Western European too. Just ask about Italy, Spain, France in the 90's... Companies did for working environments, with big software from AutoCAD and such, but no one paid it for learning purposes.

diggan 1y ago

> And Western European too. Just ask about Italy, Spain, France in the 90's... And Sweden and... I'm starting to think this was worldwide, or at least "anywhere-outside-the-US". Many memories of me and friends hanging out on DC++, using cracked applications wherever we could, and most people around me did the same too.

eps 1y ago
> And Sweden Did you guys have dedicated open-air markets selling CDs with "software collections", "Windows essentials", "The best of Adobe" for $2 ... ? I remember visiting one in Moscow and it was wild. Every piece of software, including like Oracle and SAP ... lol. All for peanuts.
- diggan 1y ago
  Not that I'm aware of, but I also grew up in the 90s on a island with 700 inhabitants, so not exactly a good representation :) We were mostly sharing stuff once a quarter on LAN parties. But I do remember visiting either Turkey or Bulgaria in the early 2000s with my mom, and coming across one of those markets, and had a blast buying cracked C&C Generals for dirt cheap, together with a bunch of PS2 games I couldn't actually run on my non-cracked PS2 :D
- pjmlp 1y ago
  In Portugual yes, you could easily find shops close by to universtities with folders containing endless lists of software, it was a matter to place your order and come back to pick up it later on. During the 8 bit days all tapes were clearly copied, many of them even had B&W copies of the instructions, clearly cutted out with scissors. However this is all gone, after our involvement into EU all these kind of stuff started to be cracked down. It is still around if you look for it, e.g. cracked game consoles and cable TV boxes, but it will be clearly taken care of if found by authorities.

zerr 1y ago

In the East, even businesses and governments used to run on such copies. Microsoft conveniently closed eyes, otherwise nobody would use Windows, Office or any other software from them.