Psp Emu

[Alpha2]

Let me check my wallet, if I find fitty five bucks that arnt supposed to be there then it's yours.

 

[codesmith]

Of course there is an exception to this rule- Microsoft Windows, and Microsoft Office. I feel that it is an act of justifiable civil disobedience to pirate either of these products. I use Linux & Open Office as much as I can, however though the unfair, anticompetitive, and monopolistic tactics of Microsoft; I am unable to function in a Windows centric world.

​

You see, it's posts like this that piss me off. Your later statements in your post lead me to think that you're more misguided than criminal, but try explaining that to the legislators that use people like you as their excuse for laws like the DMCA that started out as an anti-piracy measure but which make it illegal to refill your own ink cartridges.

For six years when I was in college, I could not afford Windows or Office. So I sucked it up and used Linux and LateX on my dual-boot '486 for coursework and DOS 5 (that had come with the 486) for games. I played plenty of games, just not any brand new ones - all I had to do was wait six months to a year and buy them from the bargain bin. And this was during the mid to late 1990s, when MS was in fullbore monopoly mode, nowadays they're model citizens by comparison. I could have done like the other guys and ftp'd everything that I wanted, but I'd seen what piracy had done to the Atari ST and so understood the damage that piracy can do.

Incidentally, "civil disobedience" is a tactic used by citizens when the government is being evil, it was a technique used by Indians led by Ghandi against the British and by Martin Luther King Jr against the US government of the time. What you're doing is justifying petty theft, not quite the same thing.

 

[Prophet]

Let me check my wallet, if I find fitty five bucks that arnt supposed to be there then it's yours.

​

Finally! Da fitty five bucks WILL BE MINE SOMEDAY!

 

[BBTroll]

codesmith: Still have that 486? It makes for a good router

DijiTao: I use OOo on both Linux AND Windows(which I get through my college for free). I still haven't had a need to install MS Office. OOo works great, and I love its autocomplete feature. I haven't run into any compatibility problems. OOo even opens old Office files better than Office 2k3.

 

[codesmith]

codesmith: Still have that 486? It makes for a good router

​

Probably... but not in a usable state I gutted it the day I got my first paycheck, bought a new motherboard and graphics card, but kept the case, sound card, multi-IO card and hard drives. If I scrounge around my boxes of junk I'll probably find most of it, as I find the different bits that I replaced as I upgraded piecemeal (you know the way a human body supposedly replaces evey single cell within a year? my PC's like that too - right now the only part left from the original 486 in my Athlon64 is the case screws, which I've kept mostly for sentimental reasons ) Probably doesn't make sense to replace my trusty Linksys router with it though, cool as it would be

 

[joele]

You don't wanna support Microsoft cos ytou believe they do bad things??? What the hell are most of us typing on? PCs? What would we be typing on if Windows hadn't come along? Well, we probably wouldn't be typing. Microsoft revolutionised the PC era ...... But it's windows that got pcs mainstream.

First I don't disagree with it being rubbish that people justify piracy, if they do it thats their risk/business but no point trying to justify it to everyone else... Just do it, or not!

But PCs != Windows, and the statement that we wouldn't be typing if it wasn't for Windows is rubbish... IBM/Intel revolutionised the PC era NOT Microsoft, and Apple revolutionised the user interface not microsoft. Bill and Paul were in the right place at the right time, someone else would have taken the mantel if they weren't there... They didn't even write the first version of the DOS they suppllied IBM, they licensed QDOS off the original author and then on-licensed it to their secret client (IBM).. After this money injection they hired the author of QDOS (Tim Paterson) to continue making MSDOS for them.... Bill is a very very good (or bad depending on your interpretation) business man, no doubt, but he didn't revolutionize anything..

I don't like windows much either, but I am fed up with whiney little runts... bitching about it. Buy a Mac, run Linux.

I agree there, don't bitch about Windows - just switch to Linux ;-) I was always an OS/2 user in the 3.1/95 era too, can't say I ever felt microsoft produced quality products. They just used unethical business practices to take control, and as we all know they have been to court many times, unfortunately 'money talks'.... People needn't whinge about their software and then pirate it, use the alternatives... Linux distributions like Ubuntu are very usable by non-geeks and Open Office has been a real alternative to MSOffice for a good while now.. (neither product will affect your wallet.. unless you donate that is..)

 

[Eolair]

Hard switching to Linux without giving up on commercial gameplay though. DirectX 9 is unfortunately a necessity in todays gaming.

 

[joele]

Hard switching to Linux without giving up on commercial gameplay though. DirectX 9 is unfortunately a necessity in todays gaming.

​

I must admit, thats true for many people. I only really played a handfull of PC based games. Warcarft 3 worked perfectly through transgamings interpretation layer. Return to Castle Wolf and Enemy Territory have native linux versions which worked better for me under linux anyway..

But if you play a wide range of games and can't wait for transgaming to support it in a stable manner, or ID weren't involved (so less chance of native version) then it can be a pain for some...

P.S. on the topic of Linux based commercial games (well multiplatform actually) check out the demo of darwinia http://www.darwinia.co.uk/ most people probably have have already, but if you haven't it is a nice game IMO...

 

[DijiTao]

Codesmith-
I don’t really think I’m all that misguided, but I am open to the possibility that I am. I’d love for an honest debate on the subject.

I’ll start of by conceding points where you’re correct:

1)While technically I believe my use of the words “civil disobedience” was correct ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_disobedience ), there is obviously no moral equivalency between the gross injustices fought by such people as Dr. King and Ghandi, and me breaking copyright law because I feel that in this particular case it is unjust.

2)I’ll agree that Microsoft has in many ways toned down from it’s extremely anti-competitive behavior of the last decade. The BS that they did to break compatibility with DR-DOS ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DR-DOS ) was abysmal. I look at things like their key role in the TCPA ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_Compu...atform_Alliance ) as an upcoming egregious offense, ( http://www.againsttcpa.com/tcpa-faq-en.html ) but obviously that hasn’t happened yet.

Next we have the point where I think we agree but it wasn’t clear given how either of us stated our arguments:

1)Piracy stifles innovation. Both of us seem to believe this, as you brought up what happened on the Atari ST and I have my ethics about pirating games still commercially available, and/or less than 5 years old.

2)The DMCA is a bad law. Anybody who doesn’t believe that needs to do some reading.

The only point where we seem to disagree is in regards to the DMCA:

I do not believe that me pirating 2 pieces of software (Windows/Office) is the driving force behind the DMCA, nor do I believe that the DMCA was ever simply an anti-piracy bill. I believe the DMCA was written the way it was intentionally so that it could be used as you well observed to make it illegal to refill your own ink cartridges. From the ground up the DMCA was a piece of anti-competitive weaponry. The music/movie industry had a lot to do with the DMCA as well, which is why watching an encrypted DVD is illegal on your Linux box. I suppose your argument is that it takes pirates like me to be the pawns needed to motivate the public into allowing such a bad law to be passed, but I would argue that it was the pirates of entertainment (movies, music, and games) that we’re needed as the catalyst. Can you possibly argue that the public felt so bad for Microsoft that they let the DMCA come to be? I guess your logical counter is that piracy is piracy, which is a fairly defendable point, but when it comes to linking piracy of Windows/Office to the DMCA I just don’t see it.

So back to my point as to why pirating Windows and Office is justifiable, it comes down to two things, closed API’s and closed file formats. I believe these two things to absolutely go against allowing market forces to work because of vendor lock-in ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vendor_lock-in ). I believe that in the case of Windows in particular the vendor lock-in is so flagrant and pervasive that it is down right criminal. Until Microsoft is forced disclose enough information that competing operating systems can run programs designed for Windows without any problems, the continued piracy of Windows is justified. In the case of office, I’m more hopeful that it won’t be long before the piracy of Office is no longer justifiable. OpenOffice is a damn fine office suite and it’s only problem is mis-rendering roughly 10% of the .doc files I through at it. If the OpenDocument ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Document ) format starts to become the more accepted file format to the point where people are using MS Office to make OpenDocument files which are absolutely interoperable with OpenOffice then there is no longer a problem.

 

[Alpha2]

Problem is when you have an anti-law movement like that, and you're not likely to be the only person who feels that way you end up with million of people pirating. M$ sees that as stolen profit just becuase you posess their intellectual property and thus feel the need to push laws that make it easier to sue or arrest you for the use, possesion and distribution.

Just like regular civil dissobediance the more you push the harder they push back and it's going to take a law far more unfair than the DMCA for people to get off their butts and stand up to it in a fashion that will effect any change. People didn't let the law go because they felt bad for M$ they let it happen because they generally didn't care that it did because they knew nothing about it. Most people will just happily drop the chunk of money unless they know any different.

 

[abigsmurf]

people have been walking into signing their rights away for software for over a decade now, as a result, we're all stuck with software and IT services that give you no rights.

Pirating stuff like office and XP just hurts the businesses that are forced to pay the money for the software. The better thing to do is to swtich to OSS and if you start a company, use OSS and force your employees to use it too. MS's monopoly relies on the fact that the majoriy of business is too scared to make the switch because of potential additional staff training being needed.

Either that or do active protesting, not just starting a blog, active protesting at MS' front door

 

[ogisha007]

Man, this thread has gone waaaay off-topic!!

 

[Alpha2]

because the topic was silly. no, seriously go back and read it.

 

[x68000]

IMO at the end of the day, homebrew systems like this need roms to justify their existence. Without the roms we would have no emulators.

We all have emulators, we all have roms, we are all pirates - ah haaa me mateys!

 

[lubidog]

@Joele, yes of course it was the whole IBM thing that centralised pc usage. I am old enough sadly to remember my uncles commodore Pet and IBM. It was an amazing concept that all pcs spoke the same language.

Said I didn't wanna go there...




One point, since we are getting all deep...


People who just see companies like Sony and Microsoft as Huge Evil Empires, that deserve to be punished because they do not like FACITS of their behaviour, and cannot see that these companies are actually made up of a mass of mostly decent ordinary people doing the best work that they can for themselves and their families.... can you not see the parallels between this attitude and the attidute of those people out there who hate America and England? The guys who blew up the twin towers and have caused misery in Bali and London recently would have the same argument. They don't see the individuals, they just see the mass.

Yeah, flame me. But when you pirate anything because you hate the company, do you hate the individuals themselves? each and every one of them?

Nope. course you don't.




If you hate Microsoft and nick office, that's bad! Don't use it. If you nick it cos you want it and cannae afford it, then just keep quiet, and don't try to justify it.

And, to quote the great BB, this will be my final word on this subject ever. Ever! I mean that!!!!
















Why are pirates called pirates? They just Arrrgghhhhh!

Thanks, you've been a lovely audience. Goodnight!

 

[DijiTao]

It’s nice that a worthwhile discussion can erupt from a thread started with such a silly beginning.

Alpha2-
I see the issues like the broadcast flag ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_flag ), and mandating TCPA in all computers as issues that could potentially piss the masses off enough to have them do something about the ongoing battle between IP and Fair Use. I think many people have misconstrued the battle to be between FOSS ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FOSS ) and closed source commercial software. Sure there are people fighting that war but I don’t the masses could care less. I don’t see money as the driving factor either, but rather functionality and choice. What the masses want in my opinion is open standards for interoperability thus granting them choice and the freedom from vendor lock-in. It doesn’t matter if you’ve downloaded and install GNU/Linux for free or if you went out and bought an Apple, you want software to work on your system. When you stop and think about it from the perspective of someone who isn’t technically oriented I think the problem becomes painfully obvious. Try explaining to a lay person why Linux running on their PC can’t use the same programs that Windows does, even though it’s the same PC. At its very heart, I believe that is the reason why it’s ethical to pirate Windows.

Abigsmurf-
I’ve had that conversation with quite a few people, the “in the big picture me pirating Windows only reinforces Microsoft’s monopoly” argument. It’s a very valid point, and my only counter is it’s my best option. Simply not using Windows is not yet an acceptable solution. The Linux’s are great as are many of the *nix’s but windows interoperability is simply not good enough to make the switch a realistic option. So my options are paying Microsoft to promote its monopoly, or not paying Microsoft and still promoting its monopoly. I believe there are two possible solutions to the problem: 1)A large government forces Microsoft to open it’s API’s and file types if they want to keep doing business in their country. 2)Microsoft makes the next version of Windows un-pirateable and thus many people all in a short period of time will switch to an alternative platform making Windows operability less important.

As far as my own protesting, I write nice little letters to my senator and congressman trying to explain it (without mentioning I’m a law breaker…) and thus far I’ve got to say my letters with no campaign contributions seems to have very little effect. I believe that the American political system has been quite damaged by the idea that money == free speech. I’d like to give money to eff.org, but unfortunately I don’t always agree with them. (mostly on the National ID card issue) The option of camping out in Microsoft’s lawn also doesn’t seem very feasible as I’ve got this whole “job” thing to worry about.

x68000-
Aar! But are ye a swashbuckling outlaw who rejects the corrupt rules of society in your quest for adventure and fortune or are ye dirty flee infested murderous bandit who makes the seas dangerous for all?

 

[declaration]

@lubidog-
But if I use Linux instead of Windows and this helps put Microsoft out of business, what about all the Microsoft employees then? Boycotting a comanies products is essentially the same as stealing electronic versions of them, if the only other alternative is to boycott (ie- you would never buy the product because of moral reasons or because it is ridiculously overpriced). I also would like to use Windows because I want to play certai n games without having to pay a monthly subscription.

the nature of transnational corporations means the only thing they are bothered about is profit and market domination regardless of how this may affect other workers job security. MS would love to put all of Sony's games division employees out of business, but you don't condemn this as you claim it is just 'business'.

The fact that something creates jobs is never enough to solely justify its existence/ actions. If so, I could go and murder somebody and claim I was justified in doing so because my actions provided work for a policeman etc.
Again, extreme, but you get the point.

And, btw, lubidog, some of us are not hypocrites. I would never ever do anything I did not think was justifiable.

 

[lubidog]

Look, that was my last point, okay!?

Okay, @Dec. I agree that business is cut throat and should be so! So use linux, and then put MS out of business. That's fine. In fact, that's laudable-you've taken a stance! You've said "I don't like what you do, so I will support your competition". That's nothing at all like Al'queada (!!!).

But if you say "I don't like what you do, but I would like to use what yuo make...", well- you know the rest!

I think this thread has become interesting. We are all hypocrites, cos we all know how to use the internet, and 'where to look'. So we all have stuff on our hard discs that shouldn't be there. I am the first to hold my hand up. I just got cross at first with the first poster. I saw a post the other day that was something like this "When the HELL is anybody gonna get the GBA emu sorted out for the PSP???!!! I need my roms to play faster!". And the thing was he wasn't flamed!

I was too jaded to do it!





Now, no more from me. Thank you! And don't ask for a tracking number!!!!

 

[x68000]

@Dijitao

Arrrrrghhhh Haaaaaa there - I have been known to travel across thee seven seas on many occasions, pillaging the local games, ahem i mean produce on my travels.

Now swab the hard drives yee scurvy riddled urchin and wash away all thee roms .

 

[Goity]

Yeah, but there's also the fact that, despite the fact we don't like their products, we NEED to use them due to microsoft's dodgy business tactics.