22

Disclaimer: I by no means condone the use of pirated software.

Have you ever witnessed the use of pirated software for development purposes? May be a company didn't have enough money to buy a piece of software and there were no free alternatives? May be a company wanted to try something out before buying and there were no trial licenses for that product. Whatever the circumstances, have you worked at a company where using pirated/cracked software was accepted? Were there any consequences to doing this?

ChrisF
  • 38,948
  • 11
  • 127
  • 168
ysolik
  • 6,320

19 Answers19

31

While I don't have any problem when some companies or individuals use unlicensed software when they can't afford them (yet), I'm always amazed to see how commercial software development factories do it without shame. They are unrespectful to their own profession!

Thanks to programs like Microsoft Bizspark (3 years of free Microsoft softwares for any startup that generate less than 1.000.000 a year in revenues), you can now get them legally.

18

All the time, especially Adobe products.

Which is why I use free software as much as I can.

Josh K
  • 23,029
  • 10
  • 67
  • 100
12

Consequences of using pirated software for development is underestimation of development costs.

You use pirated software only if the society allows you to, and police has better things to do. But this may change. As soon as they pay attention to piracy in your company, you'll encounter a sudden need to invest a lot of money into licenses. You won't be able to even continue development (if your text editors, compilers, revision control systems are pirated and have to be shut down) without such investment.

You should take this risk into account and plan spending money on it in the future—or just use legal software.

P Shved
  • 7,477
  • 36
  • 51
10

I once worked for a company that didn't pay for many of the development tools. They covered the basics (Windows, Visual Studio, etc.) through an MSDN subscription, but there was little chance of getting proper licenses for plugins, source control, and so on.

There were no repercussions at all.

I'm personally not comfortable stealing software and it was one of my reasons to eventually move on. I'd rather not use a program at all or get by with a more restricted free version than pirate it. I would consider making an exception for tools that are outrageously expensive for an individual, like most of Adobe's products, but only with the understanding that if a person makes money using those tools, they should eventually pay for them instead of riding the free piracy train.

Adam Lear
  • 32,069
6

I understand the sticker shock of some software development tools (The more sophisticated version of Visual Studio and Database management tools chief among them). However, as a professional software developer, I think it would be highly hypocritical to ask others to respect my copyright and pay for my work if I am unwilling to respect the copyright of other developers. In most cases there are good options to help you get started, including:

This, of course, extends beyond tools and into other copyrighted works as well. As much as I want to download that awesome new album, TV show or movie, I think we need to be treated how we would like to be treated (regardless if we think that company x has ridiculous pricing and licensing practices).

Remember, there are lots of free content and tools available without resorting to copyright infringement!

If the hypocrisy is not enough to convince you, how about the possibility of steep fees beyond the cost of the license for using unlicensed Microsoft, Apple and Adobe software?

lambacck
  • 271
5

I've seen major misuse of MSDN licenses in the past.

People using MSDN products for production use, or sharing server products (or in some cases desktop products) from one MSDN license between multiple developers, either because they genuinely didn't understand the license or, I suspect, wilfully not wanting to understand it.

To be fair to them Microsoft licensing has been, and remains, so damn opaque you can understand why people don't want to engage with it, wrong as it is to copy software.

Jon Hopkins
  • 22,774
4

I like to use free software for personal use, and I release all my code under free licenses, so I use rarely proprietary software.

But on a company, usgin piratated/cracked software is absolutely wrong in my opinion.

If you (the company) don't have the money, maybe you have to redesign your objectives and goals. And if you made software using cracked software, who tells you someone else will do the same with your brand new piece of software?

Anyway, I worked for some companies who said: well, we need THIS sw to develop THAT sw, but when we will sell THAT sw, we will certainly buy THIS sw. Unfortunately, this seldom happens. Most of the time people continue to use the software until someone force them to change it to a licensed product.

LucaB
  • 411
2

I know a small software company that have all unlicensed software in virtual machines using VMWare so it can be deleted and restored if necessary. I do not condemn it (nor approve it) when an individual does it but when a company do it, it's a sad thing.

Ither
  • 391
1

One of the major benefits of doing Java development is that you can get very high quality tools for free. You can then get very high quality POWER tools for money if you need them.

1

It only takes one pissed of developer or IT staffer to bring a world of pain on your company if you do this. Nevertheless, I've worked in shops that pirated Microsoft Office because they didn't want to pay the added MSDN costs.

Fil
  • 669
1

I worked at a company where there were several copies of a popular CAD program licensed using a keygen floating around, and the word processor, spreadsheet, and mail client programs for nearly the entire company were licensed under a single serial number. The issue of the unlicensed software was escalated to the VP of the division, and I am unaware of who else was informed.

The problem was promptly tabled due to disbelief that any repercussions would be faced, and the sentiment "we don't have the financial capability to purchase the software at this point in time." About a year after I left the company there I read an article in the local newspaper how my previous employer had settled out of court with the BSA for a six-figure amount.

I think it all depends on the scale and intent of the piracy, morale of employees, and if the victim feels that litigation would recover enough money to make it worth their time.

Greg Buehler
  • 396
1

Pretty much the entire Office suite, and several programs for the one guy's mac, that I know of, simply due to not wanting to pay. Thus far, have seen no repercussions.

I was a bit taken aback when I saw this, and switched to using Thunderbird rather than Outlook after awhile because the "This copy of office is not genuine" prompts got old, fast.

Tarka
  • 1,588
0

The problems that I have is getting funding for the unsexy programs like Resharper and Red Gate's SQL Prompt. I've had developers magically appear with Resharper on their machines and honestly I don't ask too much. I have said in the past that if you obtain a license that at some point the company will reimburse so buy it and pray (of get your own copy and keep it when/if you leave).

I guess it's blind ignorance.

bryan
  • 131
0

Email the developers and explain your situation. If you express your intent to pay them as soon as you can they might work out an agreement. As a developer, I would rather you pay what you can versus not get anything at all. Tell the truth, it works most of the time.

Like most things in life there is always another option. Lucky for you, programmers tend to be great problem solvers!

Penang
  • 111
0

At a previous employer:

No repercussions. I moaned about it until we upgraded our XPs to legit Windows 7 licenses.

Prof. Falken
  • 281
0

In my years as a developer I have worked for a company that didn't have any licenses for any of their Windows stuff (servers, dev machines, etc). All the Macs (all the designer folks) had all the licenses they needed. After a few years of constant bugging they decided to buy licenses to everything there was in the company...huge hit in that budget :)

cyberzed
  • 923
0

Web-based startups and companies have great choice of free and mature tools. In my experience, those companies that are brainwashed to like Windows, also do not mind paying for it.

That said, I find .Net and Silverlight and a few other things quite nice.

Job
  • 6,459
0

I've seen 'sample edition' tools used in production, where the download agreement explicitly says you're not supposed to use it in an actual product.

I've also seen a case in a very small shop of a 'stolen' windows XP copy. I'll sortof give them a pass though, as they had N computers, and N licenses, but for some screwed up reason one of the licenses wouldn't work on one of the computers.

jkerian
  • 651
0

Not by the company, but I use an illegal copy of windows inside a virtual machine. I run linux normally, and have a very small need for ever using windows, probably about once a week. I guess I think of it that since it's in a virtual machine, it's not illegal =P

Falmarri
  • 297