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Do you ever buy proprietary software?

Off-Topic discussions about science, technology, and non Debian specific topics.
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kedaha
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Do you ever buy proprietary software?

#1 Post by kedaha »

No, not me. I have not bought a single item of proprietary software for over 12 years. Well, that's not entirely true because I, involuntarily - since I have never even fired it up once - had to pay the obnoxious "Windows tax" when I purchased both my laptop and mini-laptop. And also, some items of hardware came with Windows installation cdroms which I have no use for. I have purchased free software publications which included cdroms; this was how i first acquired my first Debian installation cdroms when Etch came out. So I'm just curious to know if other Debian users will not spend a penny on the proprietary stuff either. i find that Debian meets all my software requirements. Comments?
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Re: Do you ever buy proprietary software?

#2 Post by edbarx »

In the past I purchased proprietary software because I was unaware that it was even possible that totally free software could be available. Now, I try to make it a point to use totally free software although like the OP I had to fork money to pay for MS Windows 7 when I bought my last laptop. For programming purposes I am using the GNU free compilers and libraries. It was a great relief for me when I learnt that GNU offered free compilers and free libraries.

For write-ups, I recently used open office (libre office?) and the resulting work was very neat and very presentable.


At this point, I am so dependable on free software that I never use Windows apart from when the situation does not depend on me.
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Re: Do you ever buy proprietary software?

#3 Post by Aris Veresie »

Never bought any. The computers I have bought came with MS Ws preloaded, OEM or illegal. Some CD's came with the purchases of computer parts (mainboard, graphics, etc). I was thinking to buy W7 about a year ago. Ten years ago I was reading about Linux and I remembered that I saw the Debian website, but I thought it might have been difficult for me. Today it looks quite easy. Back on the subject, I would rather donate to Debian instead of buying software. It might have been different if I had a business.
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Re: Do you ever buy proprietary software?

#4 Post by vbrummond »

I use some software such as console games and old pc games. Other than that I only use open source.
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Re: Do you ever buy proprietary software?

#5 Post by oswaldkelso »

I did in the past when I was less well informed and running OSX. Spent a lot of money on stuff like Adobe Pagemaker, Final Cut pro and DVD Studio Pro. Great programs but utter slaveware. The biggest eye opener for me was itunes, yep itunes set me on my path to being a freetard.
ThenI thought I would buy software from the smaller guy in an effort to support them, but soon realised that many either sold out once "successful" or were bought out or forced out. Also with nearly all you end up entering the never ending "you need to up date your older version" to get our new (just held back features). These experiences led me to realise that all proprietary software was slaveware if I paid for it or it was "given" to me like freeware.

After switching to Debian the next big step for me was Flash. Having only PowerPC hardware meant no flash unless I ran an emulator all rather tricky and very hit an miss. These things led me to eventually remove contrib and non-free from my sources list. and when I got a "PC" I made a decision to stay that way, only using software that was free (fsf free) and came from somewhere where someone could get the source code unless it meant some crucial part of the machine would not run at all (X, sound, network). Luckily I had enough hardware bits lying about that all my PPC machines could be free even without non-free firmware.

At first it was hard but there is also a great satisfaction in supporting developers that support me! The dev at googlesmm rebuilt the program for me so it works on PPC how cool it that. When I lost X on my PPC emac the Debian X dev not only fixed it for me but fixed the mini vga port as well. This went upstream so all other distros got the fix and the source code also. Free computing is to important an issue to leave to corporate interests. It controls how and what we can/are allowed to communicate and how private that is!

I think we can safely say I wont be buying any propitiatory software to use, though the windows tax is hard to avoid. Especially as Microsoft as changed it's EULA to the Apple style "if you don't agree to this license send back the machine" This does not mean you can't just wipe the drive though! The next step is hardware! my Samsung NC10 was a good start as it runs very free ootb also my Hannspree SN10e2
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Re: Do you ever buy proprietary software?

#6 Post by vbrummond »

I really enjoyed that tale; Thanks for telling us about your experience.
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dark_stang
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Re: Do you ever buy proprietary software?

#7 Post by dark_stang »

For personal use, I have bought loads of video games. So that is a definite yes. My most recent purchase was Neverwinter Nights from GoG. For business use, I rarely make the actual software purchases. But I have and use a lot of proprietary software. This ranges from operating systems to IDE's to all sorts of servers and applications. I also make a lot of proprietary software for clients. I can't exactly do a 400 hour project for somebody then say "Oh hey, I know I just charged you a dump truck of money for this. But now I'm going to now give it away for free to everybody else." Although it would be nice if a customer told me to do that. Usually the best I get is "Hey if you think other people will want this I'll let you sell it to them if you give me X% of it."
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Re: Do you ever buy proprietary software?

#8 Post by Issyer »

kedaha wrote:So I'm just curious to know if other Debian users will not spend a penny on the proprietary stuff either. i find that Debian meets all my software requirements. Comments?
But you don't have to pay for the proprietary software if it is free to use. It has nothing to do with any Debian at all like Flash player, for example.
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Re: Do you ever buy proprietary software?

#9 Post by Roel63 »

I bought a piece of accounting software back in 2005, which I still use for invoicing. I transferred the pure accounting part to "Eekboek" which is in the Debian repo.

Besides that, I extend my professional tax software license every year, because tax software is not, never was, and never will be free software.

Magnusmaster
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Re: Do you ever buy proprietary software?

#10 Post by Magnusmaster »

I buy console games every year, so yes. But I usually don't buy proprietary software for computers. All proprietary software for PCs I use is either freeware or obtained through other means.

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Re: Do you ever buy proprietary software?

#11 Post by pendrachken »

Yep, I have legally bought ( gasp / shock / awe ) Photoshop 7.0 and then the upgrade to CS3. Why? Because GIMP just doesn't cut it, it only recently got the single window mode so that it's UI isn't a cluttered steaming pile of crap on single monitors ( I only use one HUGE color calibrated monitor ) and even with the single window UI it is still way clunkier than the PS UI in a lot of areas.
One such area: zooming the image window - PS has convenient zoom in and out right next to the preview pane and history palettes so you can zoom in / out AND move the view window box to the portion of the image you want by moving the mouse like 30 pixels from the zoom controls. Gimp on the other hand..... at the very lower left of the image window is the zoom controls, then you have to use the scroll bars / hand tool to move in the window. And don't get me started on the brush size / shape / hardness sliders being a pain to use because they don't properly scale to the UI size :roll:


Other than that I use Win7 on my gaming PC because WINE just doesn't' cut it for some games I play ( works but the tearing with 1920x1080 resolution makes you feel like you are drunk ) and to run CS3.

I also use proprietary stuff in Linux when it works better than OSS stuff. Same goes for the OSS stuff, if it works better than proprietary I will choose that.
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Re: Do you ever buy proprietary software?

#12 Post by /tmp »

"Bless me, St. IGNUcious, for I have sinned..."

The only proprietary software I have purchased within the last few months has been video games for my Windows 7 HDD. After a point, however, I vowed in writing never to do so again; I now have every game I've ever wanted to play (Batman: Arkham City, Left 4 Dead 2, etc.) and have chosen to re-purpose an old 300GB HDD for the installation. Why? So that it created a natural limitation to prevent me from purchasing more games.

The last piece of proprietary software I intend to use is Valve's Steam once it is released for GNU/Linux, as I would love to be able to play my games natively in Debian GNU/Linux.
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Re: Do you ever buy proprietary software?

#13 Post by prana_yama »

The usual suspects games. Occasionally Linux native, "Humble Bundle" is sometimes really cool. Tons of payd stuff at work, but I don't pay for them, so this one does not count.

As general rule for me - if something is worthy I'll buy it(or donate when I can), and for me, "worthy" has nothing to do with the license.

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Re: Do you ever buy proprietary software?

#14 Post by BowCatShot »

I buy turbotax and quicken.

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Re: Do you ever buy proprietary software?

#15 Post by mslinux »

Personal use :
- Windows XP + games ( recently Skyrim, PES )
At the office :
- Oracle ( database and applications )
- Corporate antivirus
- MSO ( below 10 licenses the rest of hundred users use Libre )
- AutoCAD

rms is on vacation rite??
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Re: Do you ever buy proprietary software?

#16 Post by craigevil »

Bought XP and Diablo back in 2000 or so. Haven't bought any software since I installed Debian in 2004. Of course I haven't bought a DVD or music cd since then either. :)

Although I have paid for apps on my Android phone, mostly apps for root like Titanium backup. Did pay for winamp, and a few games that were on sale for .49 and .10. But that was mostly when I first bought the phone I went a bit crazy, spent a bit over $50. Then smacked myself.

Haven't even bought a new desktop since 2004, using a 10 yr old Thinkpad I was given for helping a neighbor setup their new laptop and wireless printer.
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Re: Do you ever buy proprietary software?

#17 Post by Randicus »

No. I live in China and use a Linux system. :lol: There is nothing Linux-related here, so the only software I could buy would be Microsoft and games.

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Re: Do you ever buy proprietary software?

#18 Post by oswaldkelso »

For me the thread has been/is very interesting and it's easy to see where all the strands mentioned link in. If folks think I am going off topic to much, I'll start a new thread. The OP asked "I'm just curious to know if other Debian users will not spend a penny on the proprietary stuff either. "

I see the issues are why would we do/not-do that. We all know the usual candidates and I suspect whats interesting is how we make those choices. For me the usual candidates from the "typical" Debian user are:

Political/User rights users: Like myself. We see free software as a issue of ethics and maintaining freedom in the wider sense. For me the appeal of Debian is it's stance on being a community based free system. Screw Ubuntu and it's ilk. I don't care about market share, "Bug No1" and such just the consequences of them. I want open standards so I have no need to worry about it. Even I don't run pure Debian (main only) I install free software patent encumbered stuff for things like encrypted DVD playback from Debian Multimedia that Debian can't host for other reasons.

Best system users: Some people just want the best (hence Debian) they care little about much else and would switch to any system that works better for their needs.

Mostly free: People the want to be as free as is easy to be. 97%+ Debian plus a limited amount of contrib and some non-free. Usually flash, firmware-non-free , video drivers, rar, tax software etc. In my opinion this seems to be the majority of Debian users. They will put up with a small amount of non-free but understand the consequences and make pragmatic decisions. This would also include the large section of Gamers: We all know that many people can only find what they call high end computer games with non-free software. That said many people see gaming as not mission critical to the bigger picture of maintaining a free computing environment like Debian.

For me, I care little about Best system users. They will come and go as their needs require. As a Political/User rights user I care about maintaining Debian's stance on free software and so the influence of of the "Mostly free " users especially when we see many of the great unwashed jumping ship complete with their "Windows type" values. (Hence threads like this are of prim importance). They need to be educated or the shear weight of numbers of them could destroy the Debian Eco-structure.
Much as I dislike them, the rtfm brigade are a blessing in this regard. Sending all but the most stubborn of the "Windows types" running for cover and safe guarding the core Debian values. I just wish they would remember that contrib and non-free are not part of Debian "The packages in these areas are not part of the Debian system" even if Debian supports their use, and not post contrib non-free as the de facto standard for Debian. If only they'd just put main in their sources list unless absolutely needed. This is one of the main point's that I find annoying the < 3% of non-free gives access to 100% non-free and so weakens Debian (IMO)

I guess I'm an FSF supporter first and see Debian as the last large bastion of Community based free software even if I don't agree with every policy it has. If it falls under the axe of propitiatory software I fear the rest may crumble.

As for spending money. I'd rather any spare money I have go to FSF and Debian than some proprietary company.
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Re: Do you ever buy proprietary software?

#19 Post by prana_yama »

@oswaldkelso, pretty good reading and a good goal, alto I very much disagree with you.
Good luck!

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Re: Do you ever buy proprietary software?

#20 Post by dibl »

oswaldkelso wrote:
Mostly free: People the want to be as free as is easy to be.
I agree with that -- that describes me.

Today's reality is, there are some productivity tasks for which you can't get excellent tools in the FOSS world. Two examples:

- advanced printed circuit CAD
- advanced genealogy web site development

I use a Win 7 VM, running in VMware Player on my Debian sid system, and on the VM are 3 proprietary Windows packages that I need to take care of business. I would happily switch to FOSS packages if they existed, but they do not. So you do what you have to do to get the job done.

My $0.02 USD. :)
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