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App Developer: Android Designed For Piracy
Following news this week of a game developer who turned the Android version of a game free because of piracy concerns, software developer Matt Gemmell has written a lengthy post explaining why he thinks Android apps are laboring under a broken business model. "People have to get paid. There has to be a revenue stream. You can’t reliably have that revenue stream if the platform itself and the damaged philosophy behind it actively sabotages commerce. If you want a platform to be commercially viable for third-party software developers, you have to lock it down. Just like in real life, closing the door and locking it helps make sure that your money remains yours. Bad behaviour has to be more difficult than good behaviour - and good behaviour means paying for your software." He also has some harsh arguments about some of the assumptions and philosophies underpinning the an industry built on an open platform. "Nerds like to say that people care about choice at that level. Nerds are wrong. Nerds care about choice, and nerds are such a tiny minority of people that nobody else much cares what the hell they think. Android is designed with far too much nerd philosophy, and open is gravy to those people because it’s synonymous with customization. ... Open is broken as a money-making platform model, unless you’re making the OS or the handsets. Most of us aren't doing that."
Yes is it.
And... what's your point? Google doesn't care. Free to play is Google's model.
Isn't this the same app that was "pay to win"(pay for the app, then pay another $6 to win, then pay more, and if you do anything that causes a loss in data on your phone, you get screwed out of everything) and people just said: "screw you and shove it up your pie hole." Pretty sure it was.
Om, nomnomnom...
What a jerk. He probably wants to eat food, buy a house, see a doctor, and raise a family. :-)
Open source sharing is great with programmers, but with the rest of the world it's a one-way street. Money is the only way that 99.9% of the world can support software because they can't code or do anything but complain about bugs. So money it's got to be. I would barter, but it's rather inefficient. Thank goodness for cash.
Windows as a platform, at least until Vista/7/8, did nothing to enforce app piracy. That was left purely to the developer. App development was as open as could be - MS imposed no restrictions on distribution and left DRM and similar to the application developer.
Can the author of this editorial kindly explain why there are numerous profitable applications for Windows, during the XP era?
It is "nerds" who invented all the platforms this person is selling or not selling stuff on, and it is "nerds" who wrote the code he sells. The term "nerd" is offensive and derogatory. At this point, I don't even care what he is talking about because I'm so pissed about how he is saying is.
What if someone finds a way, *GULP*, to root iOS devices like they do with those Android phones!?! They'll be able to install pirated iOS apps!
The entire market will crash, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... it'll be mass hysteria.
And then Matt can say he warned us all.
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
"Nerds like to say that people care about choice at that level. Nerds are wrong. Nerds care about choice, and nerds are such a tiny minority of people that nobody else much cares what the hell they think."
I think this guy just sold me my first Android phone. Also:
"If you want a platform to be commercially viable for third-party software developers, you have to lock it down."
Yeah, because no one ever could figure out a way to make money selling Windows software.
We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
I don't see _why_ all work should be compensated, is the notion of someone developing software for fun --instead of say, watching TV-- really that far-fetched?
The moron (and you) is conflating open source and piracy... which is moronic.
The whole blog post is so.... morony.
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
He's right. Super. He can go develop for the iPhone or Windows Phone.
See how choice works?
...acording to this tantrum-throwing butthurt loser.
And nobody ever made money selling software for it.
Idiot.
Just like Windows was designed for piracy.
Sure, blame all your inabilities to adapt to different distribution models on your target platform. :rolls eyes:
"Ubuntu" - an African word meaning "Slackware is too hard for me."
How about writing better software people actually want to buy?
Seriously, this is utter crap.... "Piracy" is good for the platform. It's up to him if he wants to be on that platform or not. The reason I got a PC and not a Mac when I bought my first computer was simply that I knew more people running Windows than Mac so it would be easier for me to copy software from my friends if I got a PC (this was legal back then, btw).
the douchiest thing I've ever seen posted on Slashdot. Redhat makes money selling support for an open OS. Windows developers make money selling software for an open OS. Stop being lazy and put some DRM on your apps. Stop relying on the platform to do it for you.
So, you're entitled to money just because you developed something? No. It should all be free for everyone and you will get paid by those people who wanted it originally. Why did Life of Brian get made? Because George Harrison "wanted to see it". No other reason. Someone wanted it done and paid for it. Everyone else benefited from this desire, and they were able to sell some copies here and there, but it was not through a sense of entitlement to someone else's money that paid for the work to be done.
Leela: "Is all the work done by children?" Alien: "No, not the whipping."
He probably wants to eat food, yes. But there is no law guaranteeing that he can earn money for his food using a business model he just happened to dream up. Impossible to make money developing third-party software for Android? Well, maybe. But that only means one thing: Don't try. Just because music and movies seemed to do well for such a long time using a broken business model doesn't mean that everyone who has ideas is entitled to copy that broken model and get filthy stinking rich.
No, but at some point, your hobby might turn into something that can make you money, and it's nice to be able to make the switch.
"My God...it's full of trolls!"
... go somewhere else and develop! :-p
Then he can go get a fucking job. armchair game writing is like playing music at a local bar, you are a complete moron if you think you will make you living doing that.
anyone that writes an app and thinks the money will just come rolling in, then they are one of the stupidest people on the planet. ASSUME you will have 50% piracy, and pray it's not more than that. anyone that did any research at all into software publishing knows this.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Last summer I interviewed at a startup that was trying to hire 4 people to work on a collaborative mobile game. I got an offer but didn't take the job, but the lead architect said they were targeting iOS and not Android because of the piracy situation on Android. The money is on the iOS side. We can all guess about the reasons, but that's the simple reality.
People are casually forgetting that Google introduced the option to DRM your apps with Jelly Bean and beyond. This is a problem that has essentially been fixed, especially as manufacturers roll out the new version of Android (which is the real problem with Android: that might never happen in the case of many phones). It's a year out probably before lots of people are actually running Jelly Bean, but the process has begun.
Does anyone code for fun after they leave moms basement ? Everyone has to make money and those who claim to program for fun are really just hoping to be 'discovered' and brought into the industry.
Can I light a sig ?
Yeah, never heard that before. "It's not my fault, OMGTEHQQS clearly, you don't pay for it not because my idea isn't super awesome, and sucks, it's clearly because you're all pirates and steal my software for how awesome it is."
Right, is that what you're telling your investors?
Oh, and every fat nerd who doesn't take care of themselves isn't constantly thought of by every hot woman in the world simply because other people have pirated their hotness, or is just too orgasmic to think about.
It has nothing to do with their lack of ambition to be a good catch.
Your software does not have the power of Axe.
I'm needing chest waders after hearing his excuses.
Sure, being a mediocre at best title isn't an excuse for "stealing" it- but in the same vein, even with fairly SOLID DRM in Google's Store model, he couldn't cut it and blames piracy (I want to see PROOF before I buy his "piracy" excuse...).
This is just bullshit spin. Seriously
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
I just paid for a $10 app. Why? Because it actually does something useful: (http://www.backcountrynavigator.com) as opposed to your iCrap application. In additiona, the company actually remembers the "old fashioned" ways to sell things... you know, marketing, sales, and support. I was able to install the demo version and test out all of the features (it wasn't crippleware) to make sure it worked as advertised. The app is also top notch as far as Ux and does what it says it does. The marketing video and "how to use the app" are also top notch. The purchase button was right there, so before I could even go to the piratebay, I hit the purchase button.
You want people to pay for apps? Stop producing iCrap... or make your apps free, because that's about all they're worth.
What if someone finds a way, *GULP*, to root iOS devices like they do with those Android phones!?! They'll be able to install pirated iOS apps!
Rooting an iOS device requires some effort, some risk. Not much but it doesn't take much to deter people from going that route. In contrast on many Android devices rooting is unnecessary, just going into settings and allowing apps from "unknown sources".
Piracy exists on every platform that ever had any relevant level of market share...
Windows does nothing to hinder application piracy for instance.
Piracy popularises the platform, and what would you rather have, 10% of a million users, or 90% of a thousand users? Some will pay, some won't, and those who don't usually wouldn't have anyway, but on the other hand they are increasing your user base, viewing your ads and have now heard of your company and may well recommend your apps to their friends, some of whom may well buy them.
Windows succeeded largely because both it and the applications running on it could be pirated. If it was not possible to pirate windows, then a significant proportion of the world would be running something else, either linux or something else that they can pirate. Were that the case, MS would have significantly less influence over the market, their paying customers would be less locked in and a lot of those who buy software would be using alternatives too.
MS pretty much owe their existence to piracy... Bill Gates even admitted he would prefer users to run a pirated windows than a competitor.
So do Adobe, if everyone who pirated photoshop used something else then it would have a lot less mindshare.
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
Can the author of this editorial kindly explain why there are numerous profitable applications for Windows, during the XP era?
Simple. The publisher themselves often included the security that the O/S did not - things like serial numbers, key generation, and call-home authentication. Also, the market for Windows apps is vast enough that people can profit even if a small number of users pay up.
So perhaps android apps might sell more if you had to get a serial number derived from your device's unique identifier, and supplied by the software publisher... but maybe it would sell less instead.
'Open is an ideal, like true democracy, that’s warm and comforting but also impossible in a practical sense. It’s self-limiting. You’re spending today to pay for tomorrow, and we all know how that usually turns out. I want the futuristic, liberal, socialised utopia as much as you do, but I acknowledge that what we actually get is the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Capitalism wins, and it’ll drown you in the process if you stand in the way.'
Where to begin with this iOS apologist?
Fuck you, control freak asshole. If you want to sell your products then you need to provide a compelling case to your customers. Otherwise, you need to accept that your shit will be pirated and you need to figure out if what you are selling covers your cost. And if you're feeling real insecure, figure out your own security system.
But don't go saying that I need to be treated like the enemy by my own property. My property is mine and will do as I say. You are welcome to have your software on my property, but it isn't going to bow to your demands and fulfill your wishes.
Mat Gemmell is an authoritarian asshole who hates that people are free to do with on their Android devices. I bet he hates PCs with a burning fury and would prefer I have no freedom whatsoever. I bet he's pissed that I can choose not to buy his software. Fuck him.
Oh Gosh, "Open" is broken as a money-making platform model!
This isn't an attack on Android, it's an attack on anything open-source, anything that gives the user the slightest bit of control or freedom. Yes, we are much better off in a completely locked down ecosystem where we can't even change the default browser, where you had best hope the owners of said ecosystem don't decide to compete with their own app that does a similar thing, or you'll get wiped off the one-and-only app store without a care or an explanation from them.
Yes, I'm blatantly talking about Apple here. However, I don't mean to sound like I'm ragging on iOS, or Apple in general, I'm merely pointing out that the opposite end of the spectrum has its own set of issues as well.
Android does have a piracy problem, but it stems mostly from a single tickbox that allows you to install apps that don't come from Google, the same tickbox that lets you install alternative app stores that don't necessarily have the same limitations or guidelines as the Play Store. If you take away that tickbox, I'm not sure the ecosystem will benefit more than it will be hampered.
Plenty of developers seem to be raking in the money on Android, they just use a different approach than they do on iOS. Instead of "Pay up front and be done with it", it's more "Get it free and supplement with in-app purchases" or "ad supported". Angry birds did the latter, Dead trigger (the one the "Piracy" reference was made about earlier this week) did the former. Their app is getting a lot of press, I will be interested to see just how well they do now.
+1 IDisagreeSoHeMustBeATrollOrAnAstroturferOrAShill
If the business model on Android is inherently flawed, then why are so many devices shipping with it and why are there so many great free apps on it?
-- Sent from my Galaxy SII with iOs on it...oops, I meant Android
People jailbreak and pirate apps on the iPhone as well. It's not even hard from what the people I know who own an iPhone. I'd say the people buying Androids probably are going for it because it's cheaper, or that their are Options that are cheaper. People want Options when buying a phone because they want to see if their is something closer to their budget. We've seen lots of things showing how iPhone users and Apple Users are more willing to part with their cash. People who are Cheap or are less willing to part with their cash might be more willing to go with a Pirated version before they consider buying it, but that's just me making assumptions. I don't understand the fascination with getting apps on my phone. A few apps are needed to make it useful beyond a phone, but I prefer my PC for PC tasks and my Consoles for my Gaming tasks.
They told us about Electrons, Protons, and Neutrons in physics class... What they forgot to tell us about were morons.
Sadly...those particles exceed the entire number of the rest combined...as evidenced by the Blog and at least a few posters in this thread...
"ASSUME you will have 50% piracy" ...unless you write for iOS, then you don't have to make that assumption.
Thanks for proving his point.
"wah wah this isn't making me money so it's rubbish and no-one should use it"?
Do I look like I care if app developers (myself included) make money off it? Sod 'em, if they want to make money they should get a job.
make the app innovative, useful and a good experience for the users and they will pay you.
However, just like with any other career, you don't get to decide the exact terms of the switch on your own.
Maybe this guy should stop complaining and develop his own mobile OS.
He can close it down as much as he likes and he doesn't even have to deal with any "nerds" as he calls them.
I'm sure it'l take right off and replace android in a matter of weeks.
So, the author has a theory, that sales on top of a fundamentally open platform have an inherent problem because the platform itself is "built for piracy".
Android may be open, but Ubuntu Linux is even more open, no? I mean, on Android you've got a bunch of closed-source components, particularly around payment processing and app purchase, right?
It's going to be very interesting to see how Steam fares on Ubuntu. How many developers are going to sell their games for Linux this way? Once things have been out for a while, how will the piracy rates on Linux, Windows, and MacOS (for the same application via the same delivery mechanism) compare to each other?
Also: I wonder what the author thinks of GoG. They seem to be making enough to stay in business, even though one of their selling points is "no DRM, at all, period, ever".
(Frankly, I think the bigger reason Android has more of a piracy problem than iOS has more to do with the number of budget phones on prepaid plans that run Android. Leaving all other issues aside, Android's considerably more likely to be in the hands of a cheapass than iOS is.)
Amazingly, the people who can use an Android phone won't pay for an app like that. No shit Sherlock. I mean, Whodathunkit? Non-idiots won't buy garbage.
When I imagine the developer who wrote this app, I think of the girl in the Vonage commercial:"Puppy!" :facepalm:
For him to be successful requires a large number of idiots; apparently, the Android crowd won't be that, and he's miffed.
The people "Pirating it" probably wanted to show their friends how stupid i(whatever) users are.
Before the "pirates" go back to playing Counterstrike...
I judge coworkers on ability by what apps they have on their phone; it makes it a lot easier. :) (My phone makes calls. Only. Yeah, you can still get those.)
Truth isn't Truth - Guliani
If they are coding for recognition, to build up a resume etc., then they hopefully enter the industry later on, after which it's not their problem if and when the product actually gets sold / pirated / ignored. If however, one is in the business for the money (not intended as an insult, we do have to make a living after all), then why don't they do programming as what could be called, a "day-job" at some large-ish company. The developers at aren't getting money because they're greedy or anything, it's because they're programming whatever produces _instead_ of what they'd like. After which, they can go home, and work on the Linux kernel or something..
/.-s comment system not helping me here: The developers at COMPANY aren't getting money because they're greedy or anything, it's because they're programming whatever COMPANY produces _instead_ of what they'd like.
make apps good enough to pay for? I hear a lot about piracy on cell phones, I don't see a lot of evidence of it. I know a lot of people with android phones, I've never really seen any of them pirate an app, even those who regularly pirate software on their PC or whatever. Why? Because most apps aren't worth pirating. I have a handful of apps that I've paid for because they're valuable and unique enough for me to do so. Most I don't, because most apps are so simple, even if there is a good paid app available there is almost certainly a free app that is just as good. Sure I could pay for a nice alarm clock or twitter manager, but I could also download one of the hundreds that are available for free or are supported by ads. Adding a tirade about "nerds" just makes me think this guy maybe should have taken a few minutes to breath before writing this up. If you want me to take your opinion seriously, how about not insulting me throughout?
In addition to a lot of the arguments being made here against Mr. Gemmell's rationale, he's not even thinking creatively about the alternative ways a revenue stream could be generated. Case in point: I just played a Flash game yesterday that shows a video ad while loading. The ad unlocked additional features of the game for that playthrough.
But Mr. Gemmell doesn't consider developing new, innovative possibilities like this. He just wants the cash, and will happily use the "locking down" of other peoples' machines on a widespread basis to achieve this. Where's the "locking down" of the property rights that are supposed to come with buying something, like an Android? If it's my device, why wouldn't I have root? It would be apropos if Mr. Gemmell made enough money to buy a car, only to have it stolen within the first couple of weeks.
Mr. Gemmell makes it sound only right for companies and developers to "protect" their [currently-only-imagined] profits, but it comes at the expense of the property rights of the users. So he argues for further inroads on users' access to their own machines, while attempting to make it seem natural, fair and just.
The Wolfpack Project: BitCoin + Crowdfunding = Political Accountability
If he wants to sell his stuff, let him. If others what to give thier stuff away, let them. It is after all, thier stuff to do with what they please. Simple I think. No need for him to get so bothered about it.
Matt Gemmell is one of the biggest idiots in the history of the computing industry! Is he trolling for the Streisand effect, or is he really this stupid? Full story at 11!
Go write apps for windows phone or iphone if you think it'll be better. Then when you're back whining on your blog about those platforms in a year or so maybe you'll come to the realization lots do... Not many people probably give a shit about your app and even less give a shit about your whining about them not giving a shit about your app.
"Nerds like to say that people care about choice at that level" - lets just lock up the people and mandate they use one specific thing and perhaps torture them to hand over all their cash. Seems like it's a good idea to take away all their choice, but hey hang on. Authors an arse and no I can't be bothered to read the article; life's too short for morons.
"He also has some harsh arguments about some of the assumptions and philosophies underpinning THE AN industry built on an open platform."
WTF?
The thing that cheeses me off about the entire post is his dismissive about "nerds" as if they are the cause of all his "piracy" ills. First and foremost, market share IS a good indicator of what people want, and Android has that market share. Sure not any single phone manufacturer has Apple beat, but the PLATFORM of Android is eating iOS's lunch, relatively speaking, and continues to do so, in spite of the recent updates to the Apple handset line. I'm not knocking iOS as a platform... if people like it, people like it. But it seems to me that if this blogger was paying attention, he'd realize that people don't WANT a locked down DRM infested, closed and obnoxious to the paying customer platform. THAT is why they pick Android over iOS.
I'm sorry, but this guy's got a boner for iOS and thinks he can't do anything until Android is as locked down and "secure" as his preferred platform. That's not just delusional, but like we nerds say "WE don't CARE what you think."
It's the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
> Nerds care about choice, and nerds are such a tiny minority of people that nobody else much cares what the hell they think.
Really? And ... exactly how many Android phones were sold last year?
Thassa lotta nerds. Must be breeding like rabbits.
Nerrrrrrrds!!!
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Shit! Slashdot is so over!
coding is life
Most Android developers would be very, very happy if only 50% of their users pirated their software.
Pretty good is actually pretty bad.
Stupidity: the fifth, and strongest, of the known quantum forces.
I honestly thought he might have a valid point of view worth considering for at least a moment; until I got to the part that went "Nerds nerds nerds nerds nerds."
Proponents of the locked down "walled garden" approach seem to ignore that fact that anyone is able to implement their own locked down system on Android precisely because it is an open system.
If you really believe there is value in an app store controlled by a single large corporation, start pitching the idea to large corporations. Any of them could create their own app store for Android and lock it down to their hearts content. They could even selectively enforce the restrictions, approve and then reject apps with no explanation, and use their power to censor unpopular opinions if you wanted to recreate an authentic iExperience.
To take a developers approach... just create your own copy protection scheme (again, you can do this because the platform is open), sit back and reap the riches that will supposedly follow the elimination of piracy.
-Lod
Since you don't care what the hell I think, I'll return the favor and be sure not to use any of your products, whether free or otherwise.
"Bad behaviour has to be more difficult than good behaviour".
very true. is it easy to scour malware-infested pirate sites for hacked APKs that contain who knows what malware? is it easy to have to do this every time the app is updated? is it easy to root your device and muck with hosts files and put of services that fake-authenticate your pirated apps?
by far, the easiest thing is to install your apps from the play store and pay your $.99. there's always going to be people that have way, way more time than money, even when it comes to amounts like $.99. you will never stop these people, so don't try. google has done it right. it's easy, very easy to buy android apps. managing their lifecycle is just as easy, and they've put enough locked doors to keep out the 99% of people with rational time / money balances.
Open is broken as a money-making platform model, unless you're making the OS or the handsets. Most of us aren't doing that.
Am I supposed to care that "helping smartphone game developers make money" wasn't one of the primary concerns of the OS and handset makers?
If he wants a more locked-down platform, it's not like it's any secret where he can find it.
How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
It's true. Android isn't popular because it's "open", it's popular because after the iPhone launch handset manufacturers were clamouring for an OS to compete with it, and Google just happened to have Android under development and told everyone "Here, you can use this. It's free." The handset manufacturers clamped onto it because it meant they didn't have to go to the trouble of developing their own modern mobile OS.
If Microsoft, or even Palm, had had their shit together at the time, Android may have just been a niche OS today. But they didn't, so here we are.
Does it make you happy you're so strange?
Adobe Nav is one of several Photoshop “Remote Connections” clients provided by Adobe, and uses the public scripting API - so you could make such an app yourself, without worrying about any internal, Adobe-only magic.
Oh, so open is good when it's convenient for you, huh?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
The article tries to make the point that side loading is the cause of piracy. That because anyone can search for a pirated game, find it, and easily install it, that this ability to sideload is what makes Android a poor OS from a security perspective. Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris, BeOS, AIX, HP-UX, and others allow installing applications from "unknown sources" and they are not platforms of evil (take your MS shots here). It is silly that Slashdot even promoted this blog post. The author should address how software gets pirated (same way it does elswhere) - through exploits, hacks, cracks etc. Making it easy to install is not what causes piracy. It is a moral decision by the person doing the pirating. One thing that would help stop it: trial versions or timed versions of software. But don't blame sideloading. This is one thing that makes android development and alternate app stores so much easier on Android then other platforms. Of course the other option for any developer - sell your APK directly, and provide your own serial tied to something on the phone. Some companies do this and it can work. But as always, if someone has physical access to a device, then true security is impossible.
I personally don't use android, but a lot of nerds do. and google is a nerdy company. sure android is widely adopted, but does that mean that people who just want a smartphone can't have foss? google probably wants to keep their nerd base, because while they may only count for a small majority of the market, their outcry is the largest. and when that outcry reaches the mainstream media, average consumers pick it up too.
A while ago I saw a hax0r talk on youtube talking about the differences in security of the platforms, and the summary was basically "Google's business model is that you trust them with your personal data, while Apple's business model is in the markup of the stuff they selll.. protecting your personal data is not part of their business model". I tried to find that talk again, no luck. So take this with a grain of salt or two.
It's obvious from this and previous blog posts that this douche is just another Apple fanbois.
Android (and "app stores" in general) really reminds me of my dark days of Windows usage ten or so years back when nearly every single crappy piece of code implementing functionality of shell script one liner would nag for its few bucks. The contrast to open source software available on some better platforms (and even on Windows nowadays) is staggering. And this would have been perhaps the strongest point for MeeGo (and was for Maemo and hopefully will be for Jolla). Hopefully this "app" fad blows over soon.
What a jerk. He probably wants to eat food, buy a house, see a doctor, and raise a family. :-) Open source sharing is great with programmers, but with the rest of the world it's a one-way street.
The TFA is not arguing against open source, he's arguing against open platforms. He seems to have a problem with the fact that Android, for example, lets people sideload apps from outside the app store, which to him means that they can rip an app from one phone and install it on another without paying him.
In other words, he is basically complaining that Android gives users enough freedom that they can use it to engage in piracy. And advocates for iOS and other platforms which constrain all users on the grounds that they cannot possibly be allowed to do anything that might be used to undermine the ability of app developers (and the associated Apple cut) to make profit.
So, yes, he is a jerk. He thinks that his right to make money following a particular business model overrides my right to own a device where I retain full control. I sincerely wish him to go out of business.
From TFA:
Shame on you for pricing at $0.99 to chase the kind of customers who, well, think a dollar is anything but a trivial, throwaway amount of money that won’t even remotely get you a reasonable cup of coffee. Get some self-respect. Quit encouraging bad behaviour, and ruining the party for everyone else.
Guess what? You are bad at making money. Shut the fuck up.
To be brutally honest I haven't found an Android app I'd pirate. I have some simple free apps on it, but no paid ones, and no pirated ones either. I will probably buy a GPS app at some point to avoid a standalone GPS but I wouldn't be buying the app so much as subscribing to maps. After all, Google's free app is pretty good if you have a data plan, but I don't.
Perhaps that is the real problem. Whining about piracy is just cover for the suckiness of the available apps?
Democrat delenda est
I feel sorry for you.
Perhaps you should switch careers to something you enjoy doing.
I'm guessing most of the full time developers reading /. also do some programming for fun. Perhaps because they really want to have a certain type of application, or because they think they have an idea that'll make them rich. Maybe because they read about some algorithm and would like to have a go at it themselves or just because they enjoy the act of creating something new. Some even program for fun because they enjoy being part of a community. There are probably dozens of other reasons why people develop code in their spare time. But most of all; there joy of doing something is in itself reason enough to do it.
I feel sorry for you if you lost your passion for development and became a soulless office drone.
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
The moron (and you) is conflating open source and piracy... which is moronic.
Open source and piracy have a common characteristic: Not paying. That makes the idea that there might be correlation not moronic. But in the phone market, quite different from the computer market, there is another connection: There is an open source OS that makes piracy easy, and a closed source OS that makes piracy hard. Of course pirates will choose the OS that makes piracy easy, which just happens to be the open source OS.
It's not even an attack on open source, it's an attack on all open platforms - a far broader definition. For example, Windows is an open platform (since it permits you to run any app that you want on it, and otherwise gives you full control over the machine). So is OS X. You don't have to be a FLOSS fan to get irked at this guy.
He's dismissive of "nerds" because he sees himself as a minority he is not a part of, and a group that should be both dismissed and attacked. His stance is offensive and, frankly, we're all better off that he's just a developer posting on a blog and not a lobbyist or politician who could truly damage our rights and freedoms.
Instead, he's just an asshole with a blog.
Yes--this open and free model that everyone is talking about is broken beyond repair. Just look at the Internets. Oh how it has languished under the open and free model. If only the web had more pay per use sites maybe it would have been a success...
The difference is not all phases of the SDLC are "fun." Creating the core concept is fun. The rest, like fixing bugs, user proofing, documentation, help systems, troubleshooting / support, creating a support site, SEO, that's not fun. It's kinda like watching TV, except you have to watch 4-12 hours a day of the same episode of My Little Pony for 2 months straight.
"I don't see _why_ all work should be compensated"
If you work, tell your boss that very same thing.
I am throwing money monthly at this one. http://www.naviatorapp.com/
Also throwing money at Dropbox and a handful of other services.
See the trend with those? They're a service. Design your business around a service, not an app.
But, I buy one good game a month, but those are pennies compared to the $ I throw at services.
I have been playing with computers (and writing programs) for well over 30 years. I have my own small business that has nothing to do with computers. Computers are my hobby; if I made it into my job then what would I do for fun?
Right now I'm reading and experimenting with OO programming (GTK, actually), something that I've never really looking into until just a couple of weeks ago, and it's a whole new world compared to the stuff that I've done before.
It's fascinating, it's fun and I like it. So yes, there are people who code for fun.
If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
I think it's more likely that the target audience for these games are far more likely to pirate them. Most of the people I know who have an Android phone would never be able to pirate a game, and I'm sure they would pay for the right app, it just wouldn't be a game. If your audience is pirates, then expect rampant piracy! Sure, the closed iOS platform makes it a bit harder to pirate, but I believe the same person is just as likely to enable sideloading on an Android as he would be to jailbreak an iPhone.
As previous posts have mentioned, plenty of software still made money. Back in the DOS days software was much easier to pirate, but somehow games like Space Quest, DOOM, Zork, etc. made money.
I just wondered if maybe this guy is in a forced prison labor camp somewhere with a gun to his head while he writes code for the Android.... If the Android is such a broken platform--write your games for the Xbox or PS/3. If the author thinks the iOS market is much better--don't waste the energy to port your game. Hey at one point the Mac platform was cool enough for Adobe to develop their products first for the Mac then for the PC.
If you don't like his software the options are :
1) Don't buy it.
2) But it and nag.
There option for stealing, it's morally wrong.
Wow, need any help prying your eyebrows from the ceiling?
Don't blame me, I voted for Baltar.
If 50% of android apps are pirated, then there are a bunch of 'app collectors'. People who grab the app and never use it. I have yet to meet a single person that pirates android apps. I have no doubt that they are out there, but I haven't met a single one. It is actually the only media platform that I have seen 0 piracy. Every other one from Atari 2600 to TV to music to iOS I have seen piracy on.
It is theoretically possible that there is some grand conspiracy by the all of the other Android users to trick me personally into thinking it is rare, but that would take a huge leap of conspiracy theory faith.
What would take a much smaller leap of faith is to believe that there are fanboys, bloggers and astroturfers who have an agenda.
If you get the phone for free maybe you expect to get the apps for free too, so then you go looking for them when confronted with a price.
He ought to find a job that pays better than "developer of crappy games".
by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
Previously I've only used free apps. After the recent stories on /. about android apps and piracy, I went over to TPB and sure enough, found android games for download. Oddly enough, instead of downloading the games, I felt bad for the developers and instead purchased my first paid app.
Does anyone code for fun after they leave moms basement ?
I do.
Now go, kill yourself.
Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
Release date of Oct this year, I expect to see lot more of these type of articles popping up.
"Shame on you for pricing at $0.99" isn't just hitting the Android.
And that tutorial on "how to install pirated software" is as brain dead as I've seen,
but those who don't access the link would never know.
Wow, you need to turn off Rush Limbaugh.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA...*gasp*...hahahahaha...when can I buy your DVD?
Wow, a lot of butthurt, knee-jerking nerds in here. The truth hurts, don't it?
You can do both; even if your small business has nothing to do with computers, you might find it fun to build your own custom website for that business. Or you might create your own custom software to make your business more efficient.
My ipod full of pirated software says yes, then you assume 90% piracy because your userbase spent too much on the device.
I have been using Linux since kernel 0.96. My android phone is rooted, and I know where to get pirated software for it (pretty much ANY pirated software).
Weirdly enough, I actually buy software. I payed for Titanium Backup, Apparatus, NoDock, PowerAMP, Camera ZOOM FX and a few others. The problem is not finding people willing to pay. His problem is finding people willing to pay for crappy software, and/or software from developers they don't respect.
Give me good software, software that works and doesn't try to fuck with me, and I will gladly pay. Stop giving excused because you have a piece of shit software that no one respects enough to pay for.
morcego
Make me WANT to pay you! And i will!
So far everything i've heard you say has made me want to go pirate all your products, pile them on the floor, take a big shit on them, and send you a photo of it.
But wanting to pay you? Nope. you have said and done NOTHING that makes me want to pay you.
Fuck off and go broke already. Stop wasting the worlds bandwidth and space on pure greedy entitled bullshit. The world does not owe you one fucking thing. Including a sale of your shitty app.
Well, at least now we know why MS Windows never took off and never got any developers. I always wondered why that platform so quickly faded into obscurity in the early 1990s.
"Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
Wow, need any help prying your eyebrows from the ceiling?
I'm sure your comment must have been very clever, witty and all that and I'll make a complete fool out of myself by asking but... why would someone's eyebrows need to be pried from the ceiling? I can't make any sense of that whatsoever.
I make shitty little iOS apps that apple users spend heaps of money on but now people are taking my shitty games and using them for free!!
I don't want to earn a real living, I like it on this gravy train where I just look at the last popular game and pump out a barely different clone that gets marketed and makes me and my cheap-arse Indian software developers a living.
WAAAAA!!!! It's all Android's fault, if they had made a locked down phone in the first place that made sure these idiots kept spending money on my worthless me-too games I could be living the good life.
Unless Google fix this problem where people are getting lots of stuff for free I won't be able to make a fat living, and if I can't make a living, NOBODY can make a living, and even though Google are selling these phones like hotcakes and the users are getting what they want - trust me, it'll all dry up!
NOBODY WILL GET PAID!
He conflates the two. Whether it's deliberate or out of ignorance, I can't tell.
That's precisely his problem. He wants users to be trapped similarly to how they are on iOS, where nothing runs without Apple's approval. He wants the platform to serve his interests first and foremost, with the user constrained to a narrow envelope.
An understatement. But yes, basically all of this. Sadly, he'll probably dismiss all of the discussion on Slashdot with a "stupid neckbeards" like he does in his article.
Yeah it would be NICE to get paid doing something you love - unfortunately that's a nice thought because it's usually quite hard to do so.
Bzzt. I'm a sysadmin by trade, but code for fun. I wouldn't dare code for money because it would be boring coding other people's specifications all day long.
FTA: I want the futuristic, liberal, socialised utopia as much as you do, but I acknowledge that what we actually get is the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Capitalism wins, and it’ll drown you in the process if you stand in the way.
What he fails to realize is that rampant, unregulated capitalism caused the subprime mortgage crisis. If banks had been better regulated (as here in Canada, for example), the subprime mortgage crisis might have been averted.
That total FAIL is just a small part of why his screed is total crap.
Does anyone code for fun after they leave moms basement?
Yes, of course. I own a small (profitable) software company, so I code for work. I also code for fun and lead or contribute to several open-source projects, some of which are completely unrelated to my day job.
Why? Because it was good, it was by a developer I knew.
I also paid $15 for another game from a developer I didn't know. Why? Because it was a FULL ON GAME that tickled what I like. A fully-fledged Final Fantasy Tactics-esque title.
This guy has a "Freemium" (now) first person shooter on an android phone. I almost never play those because of the control scheme, and using a controller as an alternative doesn't help. When you talk about developing for the Android platform, you have GOT to keep in mind that one of it's weaknesses is the input mechanism for dexterity driven games.
SquareEnix does fine. Kairosoft does fine. HypderDevBox does fine.
Is there piracy? Sure.. but when you've got a mediocre product with no exposure and limited knowledge about implementation, you're not going to be willing to give up money on an untested product that has a history of poor input (and boasts potentially performance-damaging capabilities.) In short, this developer has no idea what he's on about. He failed to understand his market, he failed to understand the issues surrounding shooting games on phones, and he chose to instead blame piracy.
Fuck you, come back and do business when you're capable of doing more than whine, otherwise take your game, stick to iOS and those on Android will enjoy titles that play to the platform's strengths (and we'll even pay through the nose for exceptional experiences.)
He's not arguing you don't have the right, he's arguing that making such devices doesn't benefit developers.
Are there even any block buster Android app sales success stories out there?
Maybe there's a middle ground. Apps loaded from the store are ridiculously DRMed but you can sideload too?
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
Samsung alone is eating Apple's lunch on smartphones shipped (not even counting their feature-phone sales). It really puts Apple's recent lawsuits in persepective, doesn't it?
http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=OBR&date=20120427&id=15039578
(full disclosure, I'm still carrying aroung a BB... I don't have a horse in this race.)
Maybe there's a middle ground. Apps loaded from the store are ridiculously DRMed but you can sideload too?
I wouldn't mind that. No need for "ridiculous DRM" even, just encrypt them with a device key embedded in the hardware. Then I can choose to buy them if I want to, or sideload if I don't (or mix and match as desired).
Coincidentally, this is precisely what Google did in Jelly Bean.
Well when you can run arbitrary apps you can then decrypt the APK then redistribute the DRM free APK.
No bueno. We're still at square one.
I'm shocked Android doesn't already do that.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
kill urself scrubs
Well when you can run arbitrary apps you can then decrypt the APK then redistribute the DRM free APK.
How do you decrypt the APK if it's encrypted with a key that's unique to every device, and embedded in a hardware chip that performs said decryption?
is one that has some stats behind it. So far, the comments here are either emotionally wounded over Mr. Gemmell's callous use of the term "nerd" (even though he probably considers himself a nerd), or are postulating that he's missing the boat because so many people buy Android phones (1M activations a day...woohoo!), or maybe he isn't creative enough to figure out how to make a living by giving away his apps and making up the difference through ads and voodoo. And then there's the whole "People make money on Windows" argument.
One fact (at least it's commonly accepted as fact) in favor of his argument is that most Devs start out their apps on iOS because it is perceived that you can actually sell your stuff there, for, you know, actual money.
So, if Mr. Gemmell is so crazy wrong, where are the stats that put him in his place, or as he says, "show me the money".
Making a buck on the Apple App Store is hard (I know from experience...I'm a hobby guy. My bread is buttered in Enterprise IT.). Let's hear from some Android guys...just how green is the grass over there? Do you make more from your iOS versions or Android versions?
Just because someone attacks your favorite platform doesn't mean they are automatically wrong. Let the numbers tell the story. In this case, the numbers are about developers making a living from selling Mobile Apps.
> Does anyone code for fun after they leave moms basement ?
Yes actually: Successful game developers that aren't whiney little bitches.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
I usually hear some critics about Android. Mostly in 2 areas. 1) Fragmentation. Both in device hardware, and OS versions. It is difficult to develop for Android because there are too many variants 2) Piracy. Android is too open. It is too easy to pirate software on Android.
How is this different from the PC software market? There were many companies who succeed in the PC software market facing the same problems. From Microsoft, Adobe, Steam, and many small independent developers. Like Humble Indie Bundle and more.
MOD THE CHILD UP!
Nobody cares what nerds think? Ha! Keep telling yourself that, buddy.
I think Mike Masnick from TechDirt has it right. The problem isn't piracy. It's lacking business models. If you don't engage with your users in a human, awesome way, you're screwed. Blaming piracy and coming off like an asshole is the exact opposite of what you need to be doing. Blaming the environment, or the culture of the people that created it is absurd. If you think you can do better though, by all means, build something better than Android. Please.
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No. It's moronic.
You are also grossly oversimplifying the situation bordering on blatant lying.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
I'm assuming you're running the decryption app on the same device, right? :)
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
> He's not arguing you don't have the right, he's arguing that making such devices doesn't benefit developers.
Then he's a moron or a liar.
Clearly he's never heard of Electronic Arts or Activision.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
Is there some technical reason he couldn't build his own DRM into this app? That's what desktop applications do...
This is a problem that has essentially been fixed
That won't stop piracy - even with DRM, it only takes one person to release a cracked version of the app and it's available to everyone. The whole argument basically boils down to "wah, if users can load their own apps then they might load a pirated copy of my app". Which is true. But what this guy is actually forgetting is that, if his argument were correct, then Apple would make no profit from iTunes - it is possible to load pirated copies of mp3 files onto the iPod, and hence, by his logic the iPod must have been "designed for piracy", and Apple is "laboring under a broken business model". Which is obviously rubbish.
Yeah, but how would you run it? Assuming some kind of secure boot where the bootloader and the OS are verified, the OS is then privileged to access the hardware in question, but does not grant such privileges to the apps. If you root the device and replace the bootloader and/or OS with something unsigned, the hardware then refuses to perform decryption for it. That way if you root the device, DRM'd apps simply don't work (and can't be decrypted), but you can run non-DRM'd ones to your heart's content. On the other hand, if you don't root, you can run both kinds.
Either way, if there's no scheme that makes it all work, then that's that. As far as I'm concerned, the ability to run arbitrary apps is simply not a point on which compromise is possible. It should be a given with any device I own - it's inherent in the definition of "own". If that makes piracy somewhat easier, than so be it. The argument that platforms need to be locked down to prevent piracy is akin to arguing that everyone needs to walk around with their hands bound to prevent violent crimes.
Just like in real life, closing the door and locking it helps make sure that your money remains yours
Simple analogy, but it fails, or is android getting into you bank account and withdrawing money people have already paid you ?
Commercial copyright infringement (aka "Piracy") does not take "your" money, perhaps it reduces any future money you might get. But its not your money until they give it you.
Dont complain about other people taking your stuff when you are trying to do the same thing to them (you think their stuff is yours).
How's the parent a Troll? Mod up.
Another developer of crappy apps that no one wants to buy blames piracy for the lack of sales of his crappy apps. Yawn...
Counterexamples:
GPL: Richard Stallman creates the GPL in his spare time because he wants to scratch his philosophical itch about a bug that he could have easily worked around.
Microsoft: Bill Gates was a Harvard undergraduate, getting his tution tab paid by daddy, when he started writing software in his spare time.
Linux: Linus Torvalds wrote Linux in his spare time because he wanted to prove his professor wrong.
I could go on and on...
Speak for yourself handsome, I left IT and am never going back. I still pop out the occasional bit of dogfood for my own personal use and amusement. Programming is so much more rewarding when you don't have PHB and his cronies demanding to know how far along you are.
Believe it or not, but some people derive more enjoyment from debugging and exploiting commercial games in fun and inventive ways than they do actually... you know... playing them.
Others enjoy creating super nerdy little console applets and shellscripts that play silly tunes, of any number of other fun, useless and silly things. Things like-- how fast can I determine if an arbitrary 4byte integer is prime or not? It serves no real useful purpose-- other than to see how well you can do it. There is no pressure; only the fun. And sometimes, later on down the road, you might come across somebody that needs a fast factoring routine, so you just hand them yours, smile, and know you made somebody's day.
That's the way I see programming, and the way I want to go about it. Software is made to make people's lives, in general, better. It shouldn't be used to rip people off.
I will be upfront and openly stated that I do not approve of the very notion of trying to "own" an idea. I think it's a collossally bad idea, and epically wasteful and backward to even attempt. I write software purely for my own amusement, in my own time, and I will be upfront and say it sucks balls, because it does. It isn't made to service somebody else. Its the happy stickfigure I keep on the frige. If somebody needs a generic stickfigure, sure, they can use a copy of mine all they want. If they replace it with a better one later, sure-- no sweat.
That's the way FOSS is supposed to work, and the way it is envisioned, and I like it. The current state of most FOSS projects are beyond my meger abilities, and so there is little I could contribute to them besides philosophical and public support.
However, I still make cute little diversions for my own pleasure, on my own time, and it is not related to my occupation. (Though I have made a few automation scripts for my employer off-the-cuff to solve some sticky problems here and there, but I did not make those for fun. I did them so I could do my job, and they are good enough for me.)
I do *NOT* want a programming job. I don't care how much money you throw at me. It stops being a pleasure, when you no longer do I for fun. It becomes a job, and I quickly lose my love for it. I like my current job doing aviation engineering. Programming and fiddling with computers and tech gadgets is a fun and educational hobby that helps keep me sharp. I don't want your job. You can keep it.
I am sure I am not alone.
Chiefly, he seems to assume that a monetized software ecosystem is the purpose of and natural sate for mobile devices. The fact is, the devices are for the users' (and manufacturers', which he did note) benefit.
That a few developers have started making significant profit off mobile is a recent and incidental matter (PalmOS and PocketPC never developed big paid ecosystems compared to their user base. Apple didn't even support native apps when they introduced iOS in 2007, and still treats their developers like shit whenever it suits them. The modern mobile software market is in its infancy, it is probably over-inflated, and it might not even last - especially if it continues to be a sea of shit.)
He also seems to think that the lower perceived value for software on mobile is a problem rather than the simple fact that mobile apps really aren't worth as much to users - piracy happens because either the service sucks, or the price is higher than the perceived value.
And this is all ignoring the argument that generations of developers for personal computers have done fine targeting open platforms.
It actually took me a while to get my head around the narcissistic "These platforms are made for people like me to monetize" mindset required for his argument to make sense. This idea that the purpose of businesses is "to make money" instead of "to provide goods and services" is how we tanked our fucking economy, get out of it.
People were pirating iOS apps way before android even existed. It might be a few steps easier to pirate on android but the real reason android apps don't make as much money is because of the level of sophistication with android users compared to the sheep-like attributes of iOS users. Sheep will fall for anything easily and pay for it. On the other hand, Android users are more likely to pirate something and only if they support the software, then purchase it.
I put up a folding table in my yard to sell lemonade for $50 a glass. For some odd reason people are passing me by and purchasing my competitors product.
It's all the fault of the company that made the folding table They need to do more so that people like me can succeed.
I write programs for a living. I also do it for fun. It's not particularly far-fetched.
Back in 1986 or so, I noticed that I didn't really have a convenient way to keep track of telephone numbers. So I wrote a Desk Accessory for my Mac to do just that. At the time, my job didn't include programming so I wrote it in my spare time. When it seemed like it was working pretty well, I binhexed it up and put it on one of those shareware boards with the request that the users send me whatever they would like.
I got $5 from some guy in Australia. I sent it back with a newer version on a floppy disk and asked him for $5 of Australian money, since I'd never seen Australian money before. I still have that money sitting around in a box somewhere.
The reward isn't always about a paycheck. Sometimes it's just fun to do things.
Everyone has an agenda but I don't see how almost unknowable anecdotal evidence is any better than the supposition of a conspiracy. How would you tell if someone had pirated an app? I think most people wouldn't go around bragging about copyright infringement.
This guy is pissed 'cos he's somehow losing money by charging for a game, and so is essentially forced to use an ad revenue model instead. He shouldn't be mad. That's the way Android is *supposed* to work. Just like Google, the idea is to keep things free and open. So, how does one make money? The revenue model is based on advertising instead of walled off gardens. If that is his primary complaint, then he simply doesn't get how the Android model works. It's designed to punish paid apps and reward free or ad-supported ones. Yes, it is a completely different ecosystem than Apple's "old-school" payware model. If he doesn't want to adapt to a more modern paradigm, then he's free to stick with iOS. There are plenty of other developers who will take their place.
The guy who wrote Angry Birds released it free on Android with ads instead of charging for the game. He stated in an interview that the Android model is much better suited for ad-supported apps than paid ones. He's not whining about it. He's making a ton of money for his 'free" game 'cos he understands how the system works.
Guys have a look at shifyjelly's blog post for the 8th of Dec. http://blog.shiftyjelly.com/2011/12/08/standing-up-for-android/
These guys make more money out of android than iOS. Personally, I think if people price app at the level where the this is less than the level of "work" required to pirate them. So I think the developer had the right idea. I dare say I think games are more prone to piracy.
As for side loader concept, I have used this with "Mybackup Pro" (yes I paid for it). To backup and restore apps many times over.
I have also used this to install "Netflix" out of region (so I didn't have to setup a US google account for it). So it does have legitimate uses.
The question is really about how to balance developers needs and the consumers. I would have no objection if the apps were locked to the IMIE number or some other HW number provided. But obviously this would need to be balanced with privacy considerations.
Does Angry Birds count even though its ad supported?
This whole thing also neglects the reality that most iPhone app developers don't make money. Remember the slashdot blurb a while back where the likened the app store to a lottery for developers?
From this guy's blog, "My name is Matt Gemmell, and Iâ(TM)m an iOS (iPad, iPhone and iPod touch) and Mac OS X (Cocoa) developer"
So, the headline needs to be changed. He knows Apple. He likes Apple's way of doing things. Android isn't doing things like Apple. Therefore, Android is teh suxx.
Non of us has ever paid for or "pirated" an app. Yes, we all have many apps on our phones but they were all no cost.
I have:
A whole suite of Google applications, gmail, reader, navigation, maps, voice etc..
Gasbuddy, Barcode Scanner, Craigslist, Fing, Flashlight, GPS Status, iHeartRadio, Marriot, Network Tester, Pandora, RealCalc, Rhapsody, RSA SecurID, Scanner Radio, Spare Parts, Telenav GPS Navigator, TuneIn Radio, United Airlines, Where's My Droid, WiFi Analyzer, Angry Birds, apps from both of my banks, the Citrix Receiver.
Not a single one of those cost me a penny and I have PLENTY of functionality. My kids and wife have tons of apps as well and all were no cost. I and many others have zero interest in paying $0.99-5 for your app or game. I'll find something similar that is good enough for free or ad supported. An example off the top of my head is a financial calculator or mortgage loan calculator application. Why pay for that app when I can fire up my web browser and find and use hundreds of them online for free? I've never paid slashdot a dime for their efforts in maintaining this place for well over a decade but I still come here all the time and have been since the start. Companies that have a web presence and will provide you an app for convenience for free (like United Airlines, your bank, Amazon etc). People making stand alone games and apps will always have a hard time making money and that doesn't matter what portable, PC, tablet platform you are making apps for.
I don't think I know anyone who programs for fun, and I've worked in the software industry for over a decade. It's a job you do to pay the mortgage and put food on the table. I'm grateful I chose to learn the skill, so I can be in an air-conditioned office all day and don't have to wait tables or nail roofs on houses to feed my family. But for fun??
Sure there may be a percentage of people out there who find programming fun, and a smaller percentage who come home after a long day of programming to........ continue programming, but for fun. But I'd expect that percentage to be as miniscule as the percentage of workers who pour cement all day then come home to pour their own driveway for fun.
>I feel sorry for you if you lost your passion for development and became a soulless office drone.
I feel sorry for you if you lost your humanity and became a soulless code monkey, because there's more to life than computers.
When (or perhaps "if" might be a better word), you have a wife and children, you'll look back on what you wrote and realize what a complete tool you were.
I could not agree more.
Every app I find useful is either ad supported or outright free on my rooted andriod phone. I've installed and removed more crap apps that just didn't cut it for me then I have kept which may be part of the concept behind pirating if it really is as bad as claimed (test driving the experience?). Apple controls the apps on IOS and the selection might be a lot thinner and more polished although from what i hear isn't the case with this developers works.
It wouldn't be impossible to secure a game or app on andriod, just do the authorization and validation yourself.
Many, many of us like Android as it is, moe or less. So if you can't make money from developing for it, too bad. Maybe it is your company that is broken, not Android, Matt Gemmell. So exercise your right to try to make money any of 10000000 other ways. I unfortunately can't make much money playing baseball (while a minority of the best players do very well for themselves), but I attribute that mainly to my own abilities, not baseball being broken.
This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
Is he saying nobody developed software for Windows because it wasn't locked down?
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
If you take away that tickbox, I'm not sure the ecosystem will benefit more than it will be hampered.
Except as a developer you need to check that box to load your application for testing. I'm guessing the inability to test apps might hamper the ecosystem just a touch.
Yes, you can test in the simulator but that is not the same as testing on physical hardware, not least because the simulator does not support various important bits of hardware e.g. the GPS, for which it can provide made up location data.
So, nice try, but the fix is not so simple.
As the crowd you associate with gets older, they have more money, and thus pirate less.
I'm sure if you talk to a bunch of high schoolers, piracy becomes much more common.
If you think that the demographic for Android is limited to 14 year old boys, or that all the other media doesn't get used by 14 year old boys, you are delusional. And yes, Rom burners.
They do on every other platform, so what is your theory on why they would single out Android for hiding their infringement?
If that was the case, I wouldn't know anyone that pirates on any other platforms either, which isn't the case.
Gem ell is clearly out of line here, in thinking, as well as in professional conduct. The entire article he wrote indicates he is just full of it.
In one instance he argues the point that a system needs to be locked down, and yet to prove his point, he deliberately references an article in another explaining how to externally add what he claims as "pirated" material- thusly bringing to attention the knowledge of how to do so to an audience that may or may not have been aware of it. Security through obsecurity works, you know....
Then he moves on to comment on the personality traits and perceived flaws "Nerds" without giving a single thought as to who his customer base might be.
Am I a nerd? Of course! My IT certifications, years of experience, knowledge, and passion for what I do (even outside working hours) would classify me as one. Am I a pirate? Perhaps sometimes, when I'm not!! 100% sure I like or need something, I like to test it's capabilities before I make an informed decision. But do I pay for software? Absolutely! I'm a businessman, too, and understand people need to make a living as well as anyone. Would I buy this guy's software? I don't even know what he makes, but after reading his rant and opinion. Of who I am and what I think- I'm feeling less likely to develop interest or even care. I'm insulted.
There's more to life than computeres? Really?
This may sound strange to you, but it's possible to enjoy and spent time on multiple things!
You can spend SOME spare time on <insert activity here> instead of ALL spare time.
How can doing something you enjoy doing possibly be wrong?
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
I feel sorry for you if you lost your humanity and became a soulless code monkey, because there's more to life than computers.
That sounds like a straw man. No one ever said that there isn't more to life than computers. There is. But whether or not you care about the other things is another matter (he didn't say anything about that).
I don't believe there's anything wrong with liking your job.
(or perhaps "if" might be a better word)
Indeed it is. Not everyone has the same goals, and I don't believe there's anything wrong with not having a wife or kids.
you'll look back on what you wrote and realize what a complete tool you were.
This is as ridiculous as saying "you'll understand when you're older." You can't see into the future, you're assuming you're right in the first place, and you're assuming they don't understand now but simply disagree. I'd say it's a very arrogant thing to say. Better yet, it can be used for anything. Example: "You'll understand that the world is flat when you're older." If you want to make a point, then do that and present evidence to prove it. Don't just say that they'll agree with you at some unspecified point in the future.
Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
I actually know a guy who codes for fun, but he's not a full-time developer. He's a pediatrician specializing in assessing child abuse. He comes home from a long, frustrating day of looking at the aftermath of the scum of humanity and relaxes by writing image processing software that helps him in his work. Also, he has physical disabilities (cerebral palsy from oxygen deprivation at birth).
Today's Sesame Street was brought to you by the number e.
So...can anyone see where he makes some kind of logical connection between app piracy and openness? Cos I'm not seeing it.
Open source software is not necessarily free software. Having the source available to look at doesn't necessarily mean you're allowed to redistribute it. Or that you can get it without paying.
You should try Locus, an excellent mapping app with good GPS support. Supports off-line maps as well. And if you really like it you can upgrade to the paid Pro version (if only to support the maker).
google is just completing its journey to the dark side, but still, idiots like this one make me want to defend big G again..
I see the crazies are out in force today. And I don't mean TFA
Android 4.1 and after that will have encrypted application packages signed to your devices. So no change to repackage them or transfer to another device with Titanium Backup etc.
"So, yes, he is a jerk. He thinks that his right to make money following a particular business model overrides my right to own a device where I retain full control. I sincerely wish him to go out of business."
That is most of the game industry today, Valve with Steam and TF2 F2P (fucking hats!), diablo 3, and all the other MMO's and F2P games. The whole industry is a fucking crime syndicate these days.
Post instructions on how to "sideload" games on my xbox and ps3 or STFU.
I hate blatant asshole liars like you.
The internet makes it so easy to lie doesn't it?
Have you contacted google regarding your shilling services? Dude.. don't just suck their cock for free.. get paid son !
Considering he has released tons of open source stuff http://mattgemmell.com/source/ he quite clearly understands the difference. You on the other hand.. have never contributed anything. All you're doing here is sucking google's cock. Ironically.. Google doesn't give a fuck about him or you.. they just want personal data to flow through their networks so that they can spy on it. Has google ejaculated down your throat yet considering you've been doing this for years?
I cannot sell my product, unless you cannot control your own device. (This must be why, it cannot have anything to do with my attitude, business sense or my product). Please Google, stop making software that allows users to control their own device.
IAIFARSIJDPOOTV - I Am In Fact A Reality Star; I Just Don't Play One On TV
"People have to get paid"
Oh, you means you want to get paid. What a pity. You build something, and they don't come, so you start blaming. Grow up and get a clue.
"Open is broken as a money-making platform model, unless youâ(TM)re making the OS or the handsets. Most of us aren't doing that."
So do something else, geez. You fail to earn money one way, and think there's no other way to do it? How the hell did you survive this long, must've been some real miracle. Finding the tools and the right way to do things is part of what makes a developer stand out from the crowd. Crying never did help, and never will.
"Android is designed with far too much nerd philosophy"
Uhmm, why do you think people like it so much? Because it is a geek's OS, but it's also your mom's OS and your daughter's OS. That's why.
I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I can think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.
Fact #1: Google makes much more money on Apple iOS than on their own Android. The difference is huge.
Fact #2: For Google the whole Android is a "yet another project", while for Apple is a main horse.
Fact #3: Google sells ads. Hence Android is a quantity question, like "Have it the way you want, customize as you like. Just have it (so we will sell our ads on your device)".
Think about it.
On one hand they are saying that android is made for piracy and then on the other hand they are saying that the android business model is broken and people don't pay for apps. People not wanting to pay for apps is not the same as piracy. Piracy means to copy an app without permission. Not use the a different app that happens to be free.
That being said the open source business model is a broken business model. The people who promote it like to say that it is ethical. I don't see anything ethical about it. But it isn't piracy.
I knew something was fishy when I clicked on the link and was taken to a badly designed Apple inspired website circa 2001 from an alleged iOS and Mac developer as well as a "UI & UX designer". Although, I hope no one has hired him for the latter.
I don't get Mr Gemmells problem. Ordinary users will enter the app store (Google Play) and click the buy button. That's the easiest and fastest way to install an app. The nerds he is referring to will always find other ways of obtaining software illegally for free. But as he states, they are a tiny minority.
Locking down a platform will make it harder for nerds to do the piracy, and a worse ux for everybody else.
You are rather ignoring the fact that the author of the opinion piece has written a ton of open source code, released under a very permissive BSD-style license.
The guy is not against open source at all. Far from it. He's built a business on it.
So if I were to paint naked women, I'd need to get paid?
If I were to sit at home and play Deus Ex without guns, I'd need to get paid?
Sorry, you may need to get paid, but you don't deserve to get paid for anything you decide to do.
This article has more holes in it than a Windows machine
>You have bills to pay. Life is serious. Pick a platform that knows it.
>
>Closed is better for business.
Which is why Digital and DECNet no longer exist and Cisco kicked butt with TCP/IP.
Hm, as a programmer perhaps I should start doing pediatrics for fun... :P
I know you're just being silly, but lest you think he's a mere interloper dabbling in somebody else's field, he also has an undergrad degree in CS. The guy is seriously amazing.
Today's Sesame Street was brought to you by the number e.
No, but a developer of a poor game will have a biased sample: pirates will pirate anything, but paying users don't want crap. So, if you develop poor software, it will seem like piracy is rampant, even though overall, it is not.
While I love my Android and pay for the apps I use -- although I don't consider piracy a problem but, rather, a good thing for society -- I have to say that the shittiness of the Google Play Store app might have something to do with the amount piracy on the Android.
Why can't I exclude all apps in my search results which show ads or that want to see my contact list or which demand some other ludicrously intrusive and unnecessary access to my phone? Why can't I just get a result list of free apps, or apps within a certain price range? I guess I'm forced to look for apps I want on my PC via Google, oh, and look, here's the .apk I can just download without having to bother with the Play Store...
Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
The original point was that people will steal if it's easy and without consequences ... and you've just made it for him. Just because you steal from someone you (perceive to be) a thief doesn't make it right.
Whilst intuitively I'm inclined to agree with you, I've never seen people actually describe what you say. And the organisation that really carries this philosophy, gog.com, certainly doesn't seem immune to piracy at all. In fact, looking at thepiratebay, it seems gog.com is being used as a bit of a quality label for pirated games.
I've also read one article that actually named numbers and they heavily favored draconian drm measures. Why ? Because it takes 2 months to crack them and by then 80% of all game sales have already been done. Steam, by contrast, is the ultimate DRM mechanism and it's hugely popular. It seems the masses don't mind.
Besides, it seems intuitive that the reverse of your point is much easier to get working : frustrate pirates enough and they'll buy the game.
"The system is designed for piracy from the ground up."
Just flat wrong, It's not designed to prevent duplication of installs. The developers don't put any sort of verification into their game installs and then they complain?
"pricing apps far below a reasonable, sustainable value level"
The developers set the prices. Setting prices for products and limiting costs are part of every business on the planet. Learn how it works and stop blaming everyone else for your failures.
The business model for the app store isn't a secret you found out after you started. You should have analyzed the business opportunity before you started. You've brought financial loses on yourself.
Seems like somebody who tries to stop the clock of the current times. Me believe he has no clue of what the future is. It is written in big golden letters in the sky "Free Software is the Future"
FUCK YOU
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
While I can't comment on piracy of apps (I add and sometimes keep apps that look useful), I can comment on the tendency for any application to want (and mostly get) access to my address book, to my profile infomation, to my camera to my....whole data-life. The developers are crying because 1% of the android owners pull copies of games that they will probably never play. Do they expect us to act consistently with Vonages :PUPPY!: model, or are we sentient customers willing to trade cash for a utilitarian device? Perhaps its time for the users to unite and understand who is mining my data.
Um, hello? Matt Gemmel, states specifically on his profiles EVERYWHERE that he is a "iPhone / iPad / Mac OS X Software Consultant and Contractor" WHICH MEANS OBVIOUSLY HE SUPPORTS CLOSED SOURCE SOFTWARE. APPLE FANBOY. DUH.
I have the hiccups.
If only the handset makers and OS devs make money... The author could ask them to sponsor development.
worse then that, it's an attack on any general purpose computer.
from the point of view of someone who's selling sets of bits (i.e. software/digital goods) he's right of course. Any general computer is a factory that can perfectly copy any set of bits. That means it' easy to compete with you if your business is selling sets of bits.
so here's my advice: you want to make a living developping software, then make sure you get payed for the time you put in.
Sell your time, your time is scarce. Don't sell the sets of bits your invested time produces, those bits are abundant and easy to copy, consequently there's every expectation that they're not gonna be very profitable.
I read the developers whining about piracy, but they never seem to have any independent source study to cite which confirm these numbers. Anecdotal evidence immediately available to me suggests that they are full of crap. I know 15 or so Android users and none of them pirate anything. This is like Az. Governor Jan Brewer citing beheadings in the desert as the reason for the need of stronger immigration controls (there were no such beheadings - she made it up). Before statements like this are even seriously discussed, show us the independent sources.
"Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
If you want a platform to be commercially viable for third-party software developers, you have to lock it down. Just like in real life, closing the door and locking it helps make sure that your money remains yours.
Matt, Android is Linux and the GPL guarantees that you can't lock me out of my own machine. The fact that your application calls home is enough reason for me not to trust your closed source philosophy.
As for piracy, that applies to people who murder, rape, and kidnap on the oceans. If you want a walled garden, release for OS X only and you will not be missed.
This is clearly an advertisement for the app guy. No one had ever heard of him before this, nor is the article even remotely interesting, yet 2 full posts have been dedicated to this yahoo.
How much does it cost to get something posted to slashdot?
Apps loaded from the store are ridiculously DRMed but you can sideload too?
The problem with that is it only takes ONE person to crack and strip the DRM and you have an unprotected copy floating arround in the wild that anyone can sideload.
note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
"Nerds like to say that people care about choice at that level. Nerds are wrong. Nerds care about choice, and nerds are such a tiny minority of people that nobody else much cares what the hell they think."
I hate this comment with such a burning passion. Not just about Adroid, but about any piece of software or operating system. It just assumes that since so few people care that you should punish everyone. Do nerds care more about choice and control over their digital life? Yes, becuase they understand it better than others. And I try very hard to help my non-techie friends and family understand the dangers of locked-down platforms, closed source apps, and privacy invasions. More and more, people are coming out to try to help the public understand that our phones are the most perfect surveillance devices every created, and closed systems help facilitate it.
If an app developer wants to keep things closed, if operating system devs want to keep things closed, if app markets want to keep things closed, it's because they are doing things they do not want you to know about. Should we just allow app developers to take our contact lists, turn on our cameras and microphones, take our calendar data, our phone records, etc. - most of the time without our knowledge - just to preserve a business model? And should we continue pushing this as the preferred way, simply because a large number of people aren't tech savvy and don't understand how these things work? Since most users don't care about "choice", should we just let them be taken advantage of, as long as they stay blissfully ignorant?
No. Absolutely not.
I don't care if half the Android app devs on the planet lose their shirts and go out of business. A business model is not worth preserving if it preys on the users and keeps them in the dark and in chains, unable to control a device that *they own*.
So is OS X.
Not for much longer, lol "Mac App Store"...
Then please disconnect from the internet and return all your toys to BestBuy.
let me give you a bigger shock - GOOGLE IS BUILT FOR PIRACY (everything Google - from YouTube, to BlogSpot and everything in between earns coz of piracy. Google gets its billions by stealing millions from people who created that content.)
... he'd realize that people don't WANT a locked down DRM infested, closed and obnoxious to the paying customer platform. THAT is why they pick Android over iOS.
I disagree. I'd say 'cheap' is the key ingredient here.
Look, no SIG!
Interesting quote from the blog:
"[N]erds are such a tiny minority of people that nobody else much cares what the hell they think."
Replace 'Nerds" with "Developers" and you have an equivalently true statement.
I don't know about the actual amount of piracy on the Android, but I was amused to hear a salesman point out to a potential customer that one of the advantages of the Android is that you don't have to pay for your apps unlike the iPhone...
Open is broken as a money-making platform model, unless you’re making the OS or the handsets. Most of us aren't doing that Yeah, but google are now doing both and they're the ones pulling the strings. If you think their platform sucks, go and write for something else. Problem is, Android is damn popular so you're cutting off your nose to spite your face. Say 90% of your Android users are pirating. There are still nearly a billion of them, which gives you a market of 100 million that aren't pirating. Not playing in a market of 100 million seems a curious business choice, even if it means you have to deal with your own overdeveloped sense of entitlement about the people who aren't paying you.
"unless you write for iOS, then you don't have to make that assumption."
Where is the sand hole you stuff your head in? Because the fumes must be an awesome trip.
I suggest you look up "iphone piracy" and see how it's just as rampant but a hidden dirty secret because of apple asking stories to be taken down.
I can find 30 torrents on Demonoid for most of the apps on the apple store right now. On big ZIP file of ALL the apps....
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Uhm, well, prirating on android, yeah, you can do that. Just as you can with any platform. Possibly a little easier though... But with pricies being more reasonable on phones than any other content related purchasing system, why would you? As a person who watches tv shows on the interwebs on non-official sites occasionally, and used to "borrow" many many paid applications and media, I have only ever pirated one app over the last 3 years of being an avid andriod lover. It was rather expensive(~$15 lol), tried it out for a few days and liked it, so I bought it.
Here's why people pirate things: Cost vs Benifit ratio is always part of a buying decision, even for the less intellegent. $70 for a video game? $20 for a full cd? $500 to the sky for good image editing software... If applications and media were priced more reasonably, far less people would pirate things. And more people than you could imagine would buy all sorts of media and applicaitons. If you could buy Photoshop for Windows/Mac for say $25, their customer base for that application would explode. With a good easy mode, it would become the defacto image software to have. If you could go out and buy the new Call of Duty on it's release date for $25, darn near everyone who plays any sort of FPS and has something to play it on would go buy it.
Oh yeah, and .99 for a song, when only .7 goes to the artist, I have a problem with that too. I solved that with a pro subscription to slacker.
It's not that people want stuff for free, they just can't afford to buy very many $70 video games. In regards to your crap, your app sounds like it is priced right. Possibly even too expensive at the cost of "free".
You find the term "nerds" offensive? Then did you do the right thing and call out Slashdot for the "News for nerds" tagline? If not, then you and all those who modded you up are a bunch of fucking hypocrites.
If he wants a locked down platform, he has one available. Just stop developing your stuff for Android and start developing for Apple. You'll get paid like you want, and you won't have to bitch about the platform people like us prefer. It's just like religious people vs. atheists. No one is telling the atheist that he has to be a Christian and believe in god. And no one is telling the Christian that you can't believe in God or go to church on Sundays. Just do what you prefer to do and hang out where you prefer to hang out and ignore those who you disagree with.
-"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
reminds me of the story of how piracy, not the big movie theatres, was ruining the small movie theatres here somehow, is my twisted mind playing tricks on me
Free speech was meant to be free for all... how can anyone grow up in a nanny state ?
I'm guessing most of the full time developers reading /. also do some programming for fun.
I do a little, but not that much now.
Now that I actually do that sort of thing ALL THE TIME at work, when I'm away from work I want a little bit of a break. Perhaps I want to watch some TV. Or play a video game. Or I need to do a bit of housework. Or cook a nice meal.
If you code all day at work, then come home and spend the rest of the evening coding as well, that is a sad life, and I strongly suspect the people with more balance are happier at their jobs. They'll certainly last longer at it.
I've found that getting paid to do something you like is a great way to suck the fun right out of it.
THINK! It's patriotic
Boo Hoo. If I knew your address I'd send you a carton of hankies to cry in.
THINK! It's patriotic
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This is operating only Gallery
So is anyone going to comment on the fact that Android apps are less profitable? Are u all done raging yet?
(I have heard from someone I know who has been on warez sites)
iOS has 0 Day releases just like android, all the apps anyone needs for iOS are equally pirated on these sites. This is BS.
Desire (and activity) in piracy is a signal of a platform's success, although it does hurt devs who deserve to be paid for their work.
An open source ( socialist ) developer will always suffer from those (the majority) who don't care about paying
A commercial (capitalist) developer will always suffer from those (the majority) who don't care about paying
Pick your battle.
Does anyone code for fun after they leave moms basement ? Everyone has to make money and those who claim to program for fun are really just hoping to be 'discovered' and brought into the industry.
Yes, Mr. Anyone does - and well, so do I.
And, sure, say what you want but I have never even considered stopping it as a hobby because I also work as programmer. You see, what "doing something for fun" means is that the person likes doing that something - I could think of numerous examples, outside programming, of people doing something as hobby even though they do it as paid job also. :)
And true hacker minded coders don't just love their hobby, but would also shudder for the thought that all their programming should be limited by what they need to do at work - limiting and/or killing their possibilities to freely express their own ideas, inventions, whims and such. Of course only condescending and ignorant people like you actually say such things - and really, no hacker who loves coding will take that seriously
In capitalist USA corporations control the government.
I don't think I know anyone who programs for fun, and I've worked in the software industry for over a decade. It's a job you do to pay the mortgage and put food on the table. I'm grateful I chose to learn the skill, so I can be in an air-conditioned office all day and don't have to wait tables or nail roofs on houses to feed my family. But for fun??
Exactly. For fun.
Having hard time understanding that? Well, I'm having hard time understanding how anyone can study something like programming when they clearly have no passion or interest in it, except for the money you can earn for it. But then, I have bad ADHD and I have never been successful studying things that don't intrigue my mind anywhere much further from basics. But I don't have problem understanding that people do that - though I never could - whet ever it's programming or any other skills, people do learn stuff they have no interest whatsoever to just get a job that they get paid for.
For me, if I had to choose between working as programmer but losing possibility to do any coding on my own just for fun (let's just imagine someone cursed me) and being able to do coding as a hobby but remain unemployed or at shitty minimum wage job - well, I know I wouldn't even consider giving up coding for fun.
It may be hard for you to understand, but I don't believe you actually have any idea what most people you have known or worked with at some level in the software industry think about coding for fun. How many have you asked or heard speaking about it?
Because you are a boring programmer (I don't mean that you are boring in general) a hacker is much less interested in trying to talk to you about coding as hobby - I know I rarely talked of it with people I thought had no real interest in coding for it's own sake because, well, what's the point?
But why do people still code applications for C-64 to make multitasking OS, server & client applications (like VNC and audio streaming server playing music from datasette drive)? Hint: It's not because they are unemployed - that would not explain why they program obsolete stuff for obsolete hardware to achieve more and more that a decade ago nobody would have believed to be possible. It will not help them much on programming skills most important in the field today.
Think about it, really - if you think that people just lye for fun when they say they code for fun, well that's way more ridiculous than how ridiculous you think the idea of loving programming is. And if you really think about it, there is a huge load of applications, scripts and articles which can be explained only by their authors having fun doing them.
Sure there may be a percentage of people out there who find programming fun, and a smaller percentage who come home after a long day of programming to........ continue programming, but for fun. But I'd expect that percentage to be as miniscule as the percentage of workers who pour cement all day then come home to pour their own driveway for fun.
I think it's quite high actually, especially among the really innovative top level professionals - hacking and programming takes a certain mindset. Those who love it often have more or less ideal mind for learning programming - those who, if given possibility, might learn C programming at age of ten better in a month than most ever learn in college (or whatever the level of finish school system I'm thinking of is closest in english). Reminds me, ADD/ADHD is more common among professional programmers than all people in general, and as far as I have experience especially so among hackers who love to code - and as I have ADHD myself, I think it's beneficial to programming (there are positive aspects in ADHD, most people with it I have known would not want to be totally "cured" nor consider it to be "flaw") and I probably would have
In capitalist USA corporations control the government.
Linux: Linus Torvalds wrote Linux in his spare time because he wanted to prove his professor wrong.
I could go on and on...
I know this is not important for getting your point, but for the sake of factual knowledge I'd like to question this statement and I claim that it's not correct (read further).
And for my love and interest to learn things I hadn't known I'd like to ask if you can give reference to this information and/or if you could tell who was this professor, and what was it that Linux supposedly wanted to prove wrong?
I have this book from 2000 about history of Linux, "Linuxin historia" (translates to "History of Linux", no idea if there exists an English translation), and on the chapter about birth of Linux I found no mention of Linus wanting to prove his professor wrong - I'm not saying that is wrong, possibly just not mentioned in this book.
But it does briefly mention University courses about C-programming and Unix development environment by special researches Auvo Häkkinen and "computer and operating systems" course by professor Kimmo Raatikainen, as well as Marice J. Bachs book "The Design of the Unix Operating System" and most importantly another by Andrew S. Tanenbaum, "Operating Systems, Design and Implementation", which was probably the most important thing in University that affected the birth of Linux.
But wethever there was something Linux wanted to prove his professor was wrong about, it's clearly not among the main reasons Linus wrote Linux.
It's quite clear from the book, as well as from many other sources, that the primary reason, The One Reason that was above even other important ones and is, even alone, a reason why Linux did and would have regardless of other reasons start writing Linux: ;)
He knew he simply could not live with MS DOS and Windows operating systems, having seen them thoroughly he wanted an OS he could trust. OS's that could fulfill his demands were not available - Unix having been way too heavy for his personal PC and way too expensive (between 5000-10000 dollars, or 30000-60000 finish marks back then).
He got his hand on Minix, found it usable for lack of better but lacking on some parts (like ineffective scheduling). He used Minix as base and took a bunch of ideas from it, but as he had not found system up to his demands, only a system he wanted to take fundamental design ideas as base (Unix in general, not Minix specifically).
He has later also said that if BSD386 had been done before he started with Linux he probably wouldn't ever had started it. So he started it simply to create an OS for his needs as there was none available - btw, he had done similar thing, but on a LOT smaller scale, long ago: he was not satisfied with the built-in system his Quantum Leap booted in so he rewrote it from scratch
His own words (my translation from Finish): "I wanted an OS that I could rely on and that would do exactly what I want it to do. That's after all how computers should work. Microsoft's MS-DOS did not fill this criteria and neither did Microsoft Windows, and even still they don't. Other systems have way too much bugs. It's frustrating to sit in front of computer, hoping that the system doesn't suddenly crash."
Interesting tidbit: Linux kernel actually begun from 32-bit terminal emulator Linus started to create. His purpose was to make the emulator independent from OS, an application you would start like you boot into OS. In couple months the work ended up evolving into Unix-like OS kernel.
In capitalist USA corporations control the government.
No, but at some point, your hobby might turn into something that can make you money, and it's nice to be able to make the switch.
Sure, but I would still want to fiddle with stuff interesting to me just for the love of doing it, fully knowing that some things could never be useful in making money, so I would not switch but rather combine.
And while one should not stop dreaming or reaching for dreams lightly, it's far more likely to end up programming in a job that, while something I could enjoy doing, would not let me implement whatever I want freely and on my own, if I so choose - thus it would not be the same as my coding hobby for fun so no switching. One doesn't have to abandon his hobby just because he gets job on same field - if one has still energy and interest in it then there's no reason to quit the just for fun part.
In capitalist USA corporations control the government.
The moron (and you) is conflating open source and piracy... which is moronic.
Open source and piracy have a common characteristic: Not paying. That makes the idea that there might be correlation not moronic.
Seriously? To try make you realize how moronic that "correlation", even if existing, I'd like to say that there is the same exact correlation in stealing stuff from someones house and taking a piece of tech your friend would throw away but since you asked he gives it to you for free: Not paying.
Realize now? Doesn't matter - and I mean that the correlation or existence of it doesn't matter at all. It has nothing to do with nothing on the subject it's supposed to have a lot to do with.
But in the phone market, quite different from the computer market, there is another connection: There is an open source OS that makes piracy easy, and a closed source OS that makes piracy hard. Of course pirates will choose the OS that makes piracy easy, which just happens to be the open source OS.
History repeats itself - like ebook readers, mp3 players, etc. there are and have been locked down with DRM only content as well as more open and DRM free platforms. The future will tell if this too will end up with locked down systems being made more open and less locked and restricted, even if not fully open. And with MP3 players, there were propaganda accuses against manufacturers that allowed MP3 and other formats without copy protections / DRM crippleware systems to be used on their players and especially against internet stores selling non DRM crippled media files for not just "making piracy easy" (as in not making the system locked and highly restricted with no regards for legitimate users rights being tampered [and in fact outright abused - ie. trying to achieve system where if user want's to use a song in their MP3 player when jogging and on one or more devices at home he'd have to buy a "song for device X" multiple times, not "buy a song and have it" and where copying song you bought to 2nd device would be stealing] with the claim that it's critical for preventing piracy destroying Big Media starving artists incomes.
Vendor lock-in and locked walled garden models are also close friends - and artificial crippling to achieve vendor lock-in, such as: word processor X that gains market from Wordperfect and has the benefit of being able to load and save also in Wordperfect's format, which helps them eventually gain equal market share with WP - all fair competition - but after they reach a share sufficiently larger than WP to dare taking minor risk they release new version still with support to open WP files but saving in WP format has been removed - and having paid for rights to use WP's patented format, and having patented their format which they implied they would be glad if WP used their patented format they now officially state that WP is using their IP (which they didn't officially give WP a permission for), forcing WP to drop format X... this resulting to people switching from WP to X faster, and finally opening WP files will be removed also.
Or a real life example of worst kind of artificial crippling of software: Windows 3.x, officially stating MS-DOS as supported OS and designed for it, but perfectly capable, without any extra work done to achieve that, of running on any competing DOS system, including the technically superior DR-DOS which supported multi-tasking - task switching, which froze other applications in the background, to be exact, but it did this in 16-bit real mode with regular DOS applications, not needing programs to be designed for multitasking, while even Windows 3.x could run multiple DOS applications only on 386+ 32-bit mode and in 16-bit mode even Windows applications had to be written to release CPU for Windows that then called next program in line instead of proper pre
In capitalist USA corporations control the government.
ASSUME that the word written in all caps implicates an assumption - which I believe is way off, but even if you ASSUME it to be about right it doesn't make the number worth of any more than what it is, a number pulled from hat which has nothing to do with piracy rate.
One can claim that it proves a point of course - but one can claim pigs fly and unicorns are our alien overlords, which probably actually does prove something ;)
In capitalist USA corporations control the government.
Your right, I have no idea of what there is to brag about the fact I have pirated likely over 100 times more programs (mostly, but not all being games) than I have bought - I learned to program with Borland's Turbo Pascal (4.0, then 5.0) and Turbo C/C++ which my father copied from his co-worker after telling him about my interest in programming, which I started on our family PC that ran pirated MS-DOS 5.0 which came with QBASIC, but I never tried to profit commercially from what I created with them and in fact did not even release anything before '95 when we had another system, a Pentium that I could run FOSS DJGPP C/C++ compiler on. And I bought my first own computer in '97 with OS/2 WARP 4, but did not consider Windows 9x worth of my money and installed it as 2nd OS from our family P75's Win95 installation CD.
Currently I think I have at least one pirated product - Half-Life, which I play with Wine on Linux.
But as I said, there is nothing I can think of to brag about my copyright infringements, even if there is nothing I feel ashamed of either - I do like to pay, eventually, for good commercial products though, but nowdays most software I need is available as FOSS programs.
P.S. Don't bother wasting Finish justice system's resources, what I've done is not punishable, even though not legal either, and it would not be taken to court - unlikely even investigated by police.
In capitalist USA corporations control the government.
He's not arguing you don't have the right, he's arguing that making such devices doesn't benefit developers.
So, when he says that Android is "designed for piracy", he means to point that it's OK, just not beneficial to developers?
In capitalist USA corporations control the government.
I don't think I know anyone who programs for fun, and I've worked in the software industry for over a decade
Sorry, but you probably should not be employed in the software industry. Sadly, it also seems you've spent your entire career working with mediocre programmers.
I've worked as a software developer for 15+ years, and over that time I've been project leader for a number of large software projects - and responsible for hiring new programmers.
From my experience in hiring developers over that time, I've found the single most effective question for weeding out the poor programmers from the good ones is:
What do you code for fun?
This is generally followed up by "Ok, show me some of your code (that you code for fun), and explain what it does."
Early in my career, I thought of this interview question as more of a fluff, "get to know you" question, but it invariably turned out that every crappy programmer we hired didn't code anything for fun, while, without fail, all the really amazing "super-star" programmers we hired *DID* program for fun. So now it's my goto question - I simply will not hire anyone if they can't show me *something* they've programmed for fun. I don't care what it is - a flash game or a database for identifying fungi - as long as they did it for enjoyment.
I think this question works because programming is a creative endeavour, and if you've never had the burning desire to "make a computer do X" or never had the thought "I wonder if I could make a computer do Y?" persist until you tried it - then you will never be a great programmer.
I wouldn't hire someone to produce a work of art if all the art they ever created was commissioned and they'd never created art out of inspiration, burning desire or sheer enjoyment. That would be silly. In my experience, the same holds for software developers.
All this is not to say those who don't code for fun are incompetent, I've met plenty of competent, capable programmers who don't code for fun. However, I've never met a stellar, high-achieving programmer that didn't, and none of the incompetent programmers I've met did.