…7 days and counting.

I had the strangest conversation with a peer-of-a-peer (like a friend-of-a-friend except in business) this morning. Since it’s been a while since I’ve had a rant – this seemed like a good time to have one.

The setup is this: he was complaining that a heavy-duty software program was often crashing or otherwise exhibiting unreliable behavior. Who hasn’t experienced that, huh?

He was understandably getting frustrated. I sympathize. Believe me, I do. He was also grousing about how difficult some operations were to perform in this application. As an owner of this software myself I knew the processes he was describing and I agree… they are a bit involved and there are multiple keystrokes involved.

So, I advised him what page of the manual to look at because there’s a shortcut chart that shows most of the steps to achieve what he was doing. I wouldn’t have minded helping him but I didn’t have time and I knew, from my own experience, that those macro-charts were often the best time-savers for certain tasks.

He seemed to ignore that suggestion and, instead, went right on to bashing the company for glitches that never get fixed (even though I never experienced the problems he was having – I suspect it was more to do with other, external factors), complaining about the steep learning curve, and then, eventually, how bugs never get fixed and patches never get released and the makers of this prominent software application were just crooks and had no interest in their users.

…it was as this point I realized he pirated his copy of the software.

I get updates. I get patches. I get announcements and reminders sent to me. I fill out feedback forms and permit auto-logging to be sent back to the company if I experience a problem. If I don’t know how to do something I read the manual, the quick start guide, the help file, or log in to the online support site and read the forums.

It’s not a commentary on the issue of piracy that I’m making. It’s more about the mindset of people that expect so much under somewhat dubious circumstances that I almost see the company’s excuse for charging an arm and a leg for development and sustain of their software titles.

Again, I’m not saying anything about the rights/wrongs with piracy but, perhaps, the core issue with some perspectives. If you do bogart a piece of software without paying for it – I pretty much think criticisms of these kind go out the window. I agree software crashes aren’t the funnest part of the day – but there are also operating systems in that chain, too. There are also important FAQ and Troubleshooting notes in most manuals that describe known conflicts or system issues.

When a person has the mindset that pirating is okay, that’s one thing. There’s a level after that, which is what I’m talking about, that represents the next domino falling… that criticisms are valid under those circumstances. I generally think they’re not. The resources and support mechanisms that are available to registered users (in this case) are there. They are a great way for us to help make the product better or to remedy our own, specific problems. If you take that away and view pirated software as-is then you’re missing the point of development and product improvement – the criticisms that grated on my nerves with this person.

So, my little mini-rant with a moral isn’t picking on piracy as much as expectations of how to fix and improve upon problems. There’s a right way and a wrong way – there’s also self-imposed impossible ways. Making one’s bed and lying in it is a phrase that comes to mind here.

I hate crashes. I hate lockups, freezes, failures, and all that too. However, I’m happy to at least be in a position that, if it happens, I’ll take the time to give my feedback and do my part in making a solution available for the future – for myself and others.

If I am not able to take part in that process because I’m not a registered user… I think it’s safe to assume that, when I encounter problems, I’m on my own. They may be due to issues registered users know about and can overcome, there may be a solution I’m unaware of because I’m not on a subscribed list of users, or whatever. Either way, if I can’t be part of the solution I think it’s only fair that I “know the score.”

You know what I mean?

Thanks to Nick Humphries for permission to use his photo.