I Wish I Paid For Passion Projects Before
👁 2
https://blenderdumbass.org/do_edit : 👁 1
![[avatar]](/pictures/user_upload/Troler/55NKGQKE7IRKMLHV.png)
by Troler
Free Software fundamentally misses the point. It fails on a practical, ideological, economic, and political level. Let’s examine precisely how (in a slightly different order for the purposes of presentation).
In physical stores it is okay to take and and taste one wraps of candy before buying it. This way the person can be sure that they won't regret buying it. In same vein, there are software demos, such as that of Ardour, where they provide a version at no monetary cost with less functionality than the paid release. Being freedom software, the person can set up the full version without paying, but that requires expertise. Unfortunately, not all developers are so nice. ↩ Reply
The majority of paid software, especially video games, do not have demo versions. You either pay for it or just content watching videos others using it. Since they do not provide the recipe of the product (code), you cannot prepare it yourself. The thing is, not everyone is in a financial situation to be able to pay for it. ↩ Reply
Such was the case for a little 14 woe year old me. As I had no means of paying for video games, video playthroughts of them were just poor substitution of actually experiencing it, akin to watching a friend play without being able to pick up the controller, I took the matter into my own hands. ↩ Reply
I found a full version of the game through alternative channels. I treated the game as a demo, experiencing it as I would were I to pay for it fully. This is technically a crime called quote piracy unquote. But the term itself has nothing to do with the physical act of looting ships. If anything, it has more in common with plagiarism and carbon copy products, since the original author loses nothing. ↩ Reply
I couldn't have paid for the product even if I wanted to, so obliging the paywall would've meant I wouldn't be able to experience the game. ↩ Reply
The little me played a cracked version of this little video game developed by a single person called Software Inc.. The fact such a mechanically complex game about programming was created, tingled by novice programmer parts, I was starting out learning computing then. ↩ Reply
I wished to have modifications of the game, so I could play around with different functions. Consequently I went to the Discord chat of the video game and inquired how to do it. All the explanations were given for doing the modification of software through the Steam platform, as I had got the game through unofficial sources, I had no access through such means. ↩ Reply
I explained my situation honestly, giving away that I did not pay for the game... to the developer. He got hurt so badly, of me being so insistent on receiving help when I had paid not a dime for all of his hard work, that he lashed out on me. All of the words of spite and genuine earnest annoyment were absorbed by me. ↩ Reply
I did not stoop down, I said I could pay for the game in crypto-currency. Here I spoke of LBC, a currency of the video platform Odysee. My words further pushed him to the edge, taking them as an insult, that I not only wish to not pay for his hard work but if needed do it through made up internet money. ↩ Reply
I carried the pain for weeks end, until it subsided, until I sometimes remembered what I had done. Having installed the game without transaction was not what hurt me, but me smooth-talking about crypto and not twisting the conversation in such a way, that I'd be considered in the moral side. ↩ Reply
After 6 years I went to the game's website and bought the version not requiring the there to be internet to check whether the copy is legitimate and not have it be tied to the account, which can be lost or stolen, essentially DRM-free. ↩ Reply
![[embedded image]](/pictures/user_upload/Troler/Softwareinc.png "The VAT tax is how much the dev wants to give to itch.io platform")
The VAT tax is how much the dev wants to give to itch.io platform. ↩ Reply
I chose to avoid Steam for other reasons besides DRM, it is also 6 Euros cheaper! Given how the game is nearing 1.0 release after 12 years of development. ↩ Reply
![[embedded image]](/pictures/user_upload/Troler/Softwareinc1.png "I did not email the game download link to Stallman, don't worry")
I did not email the game download link to Stallman, don't worry. ↩ Reply
The game name is misleading, because the game is not about just about making software, such as operating systems and video games. No, you can also be a marketing contractor for software, hardware. You can open up a file server in 80s and create your own Amazon Web Server. You can create product designs and have others or yourself manufacture them. The products themselves can be designed in detailed not by changing numbers, but their 3D models as well. If that's not enough, you can play as a patent troll and sue others to make money. Even if that's not enough, you can be a stock investor and play with the stock market. ↩ Reply
All that money can be used to build an office or a factory in a very detailed and extended building mode, with various options for furniture and architectural minutae. ↩ Reply
This is just in the base game so far, what'll happen after the major reworking of the game in the 1.0 release is not too clear. ↩ Reply
![[embedded image]](/pictures/user_upload/Troler/softwareinc2.png "Not exactly sure why I paid .33 for the tax and not 2.88, WTH?!")
Not exactly sure why I paid .33 for the tax and not 2.88, WTH?! ↩ Reply
The developer offers the game just for 16 Euro for a DRM nonsense free version with updates at no monetary cost. And there is no additional paid downloadable content (DLC). ↩ Reply
Out of repentance of my brazen desire to get help for something I did not financially support, I've finally paid for it. Unfortunately the game's source code is not freely available, but I'm still appreciative the developer is so loving of his overly ambitious project. Godspeed, Kenneth Otto Larsen. You can follow him on Mastodon. ↩ Reply
Fin. ↩ Reply
Find this post on Mastodon
![[avatar]](/pictures/favicon.png)
Blender Dumbass
c:0 September 10, 2026 In physical stores it is okay to take and and taste one wraps of candy before buying it. This way the person can be sure that they won't regret buying it. In same vein, there are software demos, such as that of Ardour, where they provide a version at no monetary cost with less functionality than the paid release. Being freedom software, the person can set up the full version without paying, but that requires expertise. Unfortunately, not all developers are so nice.
Or being on GNU / Linux with Ardour in the repository.
![[thumbnail]](/pictures/thumbs/money_problem.png)
![[thumbnail]](/pictures/thumbs/where_you_draw_line.jpg)