How Do You Deal With Pirated Programs At Work?

LoneAdminOK writes "I started working for a small company in the middle of January as their IT Manager. I am the first actual 'IT Guy' that they have had; before me it was someone that performed another job within the company and just handled the IT on the side. The problem that I am running into is that most of the software I am finding on the network and on people's computers isn't owned by the company. The person before me would just get it from 'somewhere' and install it on the computers as needed. This is putting me in a bad position when I have to reinstall the program or find it to install on someone else's computer. Often, I am telling people that we don't have it or we have to buy another license, and they get mad at me because the other guy said that we had it. I can't even tell where the versions of Windows Server that they are running came from. The only one I know is legit is the one that is installed on an HP server with the OEM sticker on it. How have any of you handled a situation like this? I don't install 'borrowed programs' in a production environment because I know that if the BSA got wind of this, it would all fall on me when they stormed in."

Comments

So...

[BigAssRat]

Donkey tarps?

Re:Tell the truth, plainly

[Archangel Michael]

You're kidding ... right?

If you want to know how deep congress is involved, just ask Sen Dodd why he inserted the original exemption on the executive compensation, to which he denied plainly and then admitted to, but not sure where it came from.

Now read this
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/03/dodds_wife_a_former_director_o.html

and realize that the rabbit hole is pretty deep. This isn't a bash against (D) over (R) because both are neck deep in the crap.

And if you believe anyone in congress when their lips are moving you're an idiot. I don't trust anyone there. PERIOD.

Re:Your choice

[Mister Whirly]

I work at a large University and we have a ton of software requirements for submitting government grants and such. These must be submitted using MS Office (government requirement) or you get no grant money. Also, we have campus wide agreements with Microsoft so we can use any MS OS or version of Office with no additional cost to us, so we do. We also have a long list of vendors who give us educational discounts, making most commercial software very affordable. So based on compatibility, requirements from third parties, and cost it is really a no brainer to use the commercial packages available to us. If any/all of this changes I will have to reconsider the software we use, but for now it is easy and affordable the way things are. (Plus I am also the go-to guy for software issues. I don't want 75 people calling me everyday and me having to explain how to do something they have done a million times before in the old software, but are unsure how to do it in the new software. My time is better spent on other issues.)