Put it this way, a very quick search enabled me to find Linux pirated games on a website. It does happen, I've seen it happen and I've had to deleted comments on an article before from a certain user who repeatedly talked pro-piracy without giving a shit.

It happens on all platforms where it's possible to do so.

I stand corrected.

Look I hear you on DRM, bu then again Steam allows me to manage 151 games and due to sales they have going on, I gotten quite a few real cheap.

I did have a serious question though. Who has actually seen pirated Linux software, not Windows software people pirated through Wine? If you have how much of it?

I don't want to know where it is as I have no interest in it, I'm just curious if it actually exists in any substantial amount.

want me to get evidence for you


u can see there f1 2015 and new game aragami

Speaking of piracy can you even actually buy the Loki version of HoMM3 anywhere?

Bought the "complete" version on gog but that only contains the windows versions, which supposedly works ok with wine - but I'd much rather have it native, how ever it seems that Loki has gone belly up some time ago :(

Speaking of piracy can you even actually buy the Loki version of HoMM3 anywhere?

Bought the "complete" version on gog but that only contains the windows versions, which supposedly works ok with wine - but I'd much rather have it native, how ever it seems that Loki has gone belly up some time ago :(

I don't think you can but from what I hear old Loki ports may also be difficult to even get to work on a recent distro.

Most of the games that are pirated is because of their drm free versions
For example if you type gog on a torrent site you can get most of the newest games that are already in gog for all OS.

As far as I can say about myself I didnt pirate that much
I had most of the M$ Software their original versions as I was a Microsoft partner paying 300 euro each year for the M$ kit in order to have all their software.
As for gaming I was only playing World of Warcraft in windows so I was paying only subscription + the initial buy of the game.I think I maybe pirated some applications or some games just to test if I like it or not , not that much.

Now on Linux I dont pirate at all , well I dont have the need to buy any special software since most of the things I want to do I can do it with a variety of software that open source provides me.
However I donate as much as I can afford to the projects or the distro I like.
As for games I just support steam purchases or other legal sites that will provide me a steam key. Summer sales and bundles are enough to keep me away from pirating games. Is just not worth to pirate anything for some dollars.

Now as for movies,TV Shows,Anime etc... is another story.
As I dont have much time to watch TV, if I want to watch something I will just find my way to watch it :P

I did have a serious question though. Who has actually seen pirated Linux software, not Windows software people pirated through Wine? If you have how much of it?

I don't want to know where it is as I have no interest in it, I'm just curious if it actually exists in any substantial amount.

want me to get evidence for you


u can see there f1 2015 and new game aragami

No I'm good. I just hadn't seen it, and didn't want to look for it. The only pirating I had heard of directly on Linux was Windows stuff using Wine. Should a known if I looked for I'd probably find it.

Pirating Software on Windows is simple - Everything goes in one folder, & everything usually works !
Pirating Software on Unix derivatives is complex - stuff goes into various folders like bin, etc, home; & something usually does NOT work, and therefore requires help from software support team !

Most of the games that are pirated is because of their drm free versions
For example if you type gog on a torrent site you can get most of the newest games that are already in gog for all OS.

no its not only drm-free

u can see pic in my post

there f1 and aragami
and thats not drm-free

Most of the games that are pirated is because of their drm free versions
For example if you type gog on a torrent site you can get most of the newest games that are already in gog for all OS.

no its not only drm-free

u can see pic in my post

there f1 and aragami
and thats not drm-free

well Aragami it is DRM FREE

https://www.gog.com/game/aragami

but as for formula 1 2015 I dont know, you have to download it and check it out :P
Unless GOG is preparing a DRM Free or maybe it works without steam?

Most of the games that are pirated is because of their drm free versions
For example if you type gog on a torrent site you can get most of the newest games that are already in gog for all OS.

no its not only drm-free

u can see pic in my post

there f1 and aragami
and thats not drm-free

well Aragami it is DRM FREE

https://www.gog.com/game/aragami

but as for formula 1 2015 I dont know, you have to dowunload it and check it out :P
Unless GOG is preparing a DRM Free or maybe it works without steam?

that version not drm-free

u can see ACTIVATED
that mean its steam game use cracked steam api
it can work witout steam

Most of the games that are pirated is because of their drm free versions
For example if you type gog on a torrent site you can get most of the newest games that are already in gog for all OS.

no its not only drm-free

u can see pic in my post

there f1 and aragami
and thats not drm-free

well Aragami it is DRM FREE

https://www.gog.com/game/aragami

but as for formula 1 2015 I dont know, you have to dowunload it and check it out :P
Unless GOG is preparing a DRM Free or maybe it works without steam?

that version not drm-free

u can see ACTIVATED
that mean its steam game use cracked steam api
it can work witout steam

Or it's fake. Either way their are at least people pretending to be Linux pirates. They could be hackers trying to get people to install their backdoor disguised as a game.

As to the original question. I think all we can really do is make it clear that we do not support piracy, which Liam seems to do a pretty good job of on the site. We could have a forum post, maybe even have it permanently visible on front page that attests to our opposition of piracy... something along those lines.

Piracy is an interesting phenomenon. It starts when you are young and don't have any money, but still want games/software. Add in availability and off you go. After that it often turns into more of an addiction where you're ultimately working on completing your "collection" of software, but never really use it.

By then it's second nature. It doesn't stop until you change your attitude towards it and have some disposable income. I've been completely free of pirated software (well, almost, one exception) for a while and even bought a whole bunch of games on Steam to settle a 'debt'.

Very similar situation in my case. When I was studying I had a limitless access to illegal software/movies/music and I was using it. During the studies (after 3rd year I guess) I realized how bad it is.
Moving to Linux completely changed my attitude. Now I'm 28 and for 7 years I use Linux and for 4-5 years I'm completely free of illegal software. Unfortunately I do download a TV series that I have no access to in VOD way in my country.

that version not drm-free

u can see ACTIVATED
that mean its steam game use cracked steam api
it can work witout steam

Yep. In fact ACTiVATED is the name of a crackers team dedicated to Mac and Linux games. All their releases come from Steam.
There is no point to crack a GOG game since it's DRM free.

A simple search for "activated.nfo" will tell you which protection they crack.

Pirating is likely just as bad on Linux as it is on Windows.

I've repeatedly seen a few people in our comments claim piracy is okay for *reasons*

The best way is to call these people out on their idiocy. Make sure they know not many share their opinion and so on.

Your lack of willingness to try to understand is showing. I don't have time to write out a whole comment atm so I'll just leave you guys with this short story:

We thought things would be terrible when they invaded. Everybody imagined rivers of blood and mountains of corpses, we invisioned terrible lizard-demon-fire-monsters roaming the cracked streets with their acid breath and barbed tails.

Actually, they're quite nice. Since they came, they ended world hunger, and gave everybody free internet and broadband everywhere. It's awesome. Plus they taught us the secrets of the universe like how to travel at light-speed and cook the perfect burrito(the secret is lemon juice), and in general everything is brilliant. We only have to work three days a week because crops grow incredibly fast and there are no diseases or important things that people need to worry about.

There's only one problem, though it's not a very big one. A tiny one in fact. I don't know why I'm even bothering to mention it its such a tiny, minuscule, almost nonexistent flaw. They're very religious and require a blood sacrifice every week. Only one person. One person is sacrificed on TV on Sundays and we all watch it, it's mandatory. Not a big thing, like I said.

Anyway, the person is chosen at random out of our entire population (not the aliens' population it goes against their religion) on Mondays, and whoever is chosen will have the entire week to live it up and say goodbye to their loved ones and be told by everyone how much they appreciate their sacrifice that allows the rest of us to live this perfectly happy and healthy life that we have and all of that. They then get to do whatever they want for the rest of the week - diets are out of the window - until Sunday when they are sacrificed with the whole world supporting and thanking them. It's a pretty sweet deal actually.

I'm just about to watch the Monday event (we kinda have to but I would anyway just to support whoever is chosen). Da da daaa! (It's their national anthem) Oooh! Ooh! The name's coming up! It's coming! Here it is it's - Oh. Ah. Hmm.

...

What the hell are we doing letting aliens decide to kill us every week? This system is ridiculous! We need to revolt against this...this butchering of innocent people! Revolt!

Pirating is likely just as bad on Linux as it is on Windows.

I've repeatedly seen a few people in our comments claim piracy is okay for *reasons*

The best way is to call these people out on their idiocy. Make sure they know not many share their opinion and so on.

Your lack of willingness to try to understand is showing. I don't have time to write out a whole comment atm so I'll just leave you guys with this short story:

( ...way too long modern version of "first the came for the jews" ... )

It's a good story and all - the original is more succinct, however if you think it somehow justified piracy then I think you need to sit down and think hard on what it actually means. ( Hint: what supposed injustice is piracy battling ? - and no your inability to pay for the game doesn't count )

Since moving to Linux I even bought office 365, so I can make docs in Linux people using Microsoft Office can view properly (I may abandon it if they start advertising through it, which I have a feeling is coming. I also don't trust it for sensitive docs since Microsoft probably logs every word you type and their EULA allows them to do what they want with it). I'd like them to make standard office for Linux as I really don't like the concept of 365.

Sorry to be off topic but I highly recommend 'WPS Office' for Linux. Free for Linux and has the best OpenXML (docx/xlsx/etc) support you can get under Linux.

It's a good story and all - the original is more succinct, however if you think it somehow justified piracy then I think you need to sit down and think hard on what it actually means. ( Hint: what supposed injustice is piracy battling ? - and no your inability to pay for the game doesn't count )

I almost forgot I even posted in here. Anyway, I only shared the story in a lame attempt to emphasize that our perspectives are just that; a perspective. It is too easy to declare the actions of others an absolute idiocy without having taken the effort to understand them. I used to be staunch believer that drm cracking, key sharing and the like == bad. But after hearing the "opposition" explain, for example, how they've needed to circumvent region locking (a problem I never even knew of, being from the US) I came to realize that the situation isn't so black and white.

The amusing part of trying to deliver a voice for the other side on GOL is that people immediately assume the messenger is a filthy pirate so let's get the litmus test out of the way: I have never stolen a computer game in my life.

Since moving to Linux I even bought office 365, so I can make docs in Linux people using Microsoft Office can view properly (I may abandon it if they start advertising through it, which I have a feeling is coming. I also don't trust it for sensitive docs since Microsoft probably logs every word you type and their EULA allows them to do what they want with it). I'd like them to make standard office for Linux as I really don't like the concept of 365.

Sorry to be off topic but I highly recommend 'WPS Office' for Linux. Free for Linux and has the best OpenXML (docx/xlsx/etc) support you can get under Linux.

Closest to MS is probably MS Office 2010 or 2013 under wine :)

However I see your point, Why buy Microsoft office when you can have pretty much all features that an average person needs with WPS Office which happens to be quite similar and compatible with MS's formats... Office programs from MS are really useless investment when having WPS, LibreOffice and even online office suits like Word online, Google docs...

Speaking of piracy can you even actually buy the Loki version of HoMM3 anywhere?

Bought the "complete" version on gog but that only contains the windows versions, which supposedly works ok with wine - but I'd much rather have it native, how ever it seems that Loki has gone belly up some time ago :(

I don't think you can but from what I hear old Loki ports may also be difficult to even get to work on a recent distro.

I managed to find Heavy Gear 2 on Amazon, and it installs and runs on current Debian Sid. There is a website out there, which is unfortunately eluding me at the moment, that has patches for all their games that should make them run more or less on modern systems.

I will say that there is one good purpose of piracy. To save all that software that would have otherwise have been lost. The preservation of games that never did very well, or were on the Atari 8-bit line of computers, or those rare gold gems that were on the C64. Those will never be for sale again, and they're old enough that they should no longer be under copyright (ha, project gutenberg for software?) And let's face it, that's all piracy is, copyright infringement. You'd like a good author of a book to do well, tell your friends it's an awesome book, and hopefully they'll write more as they get more money. Just remember most big name games are marketed through a publisher, who generally just pays X amount to a developer, unless that developer is really good, then they could potentially get a royalty based contract. If they don't get royalties piracy hurts the publisher not the developer. Granted, if everyone pirates the game instead of buys it, then the publisher will think the game was crap, and won't order up a sequel.

But yeah for all the retro stuff out there that'll never again see the light of day on modern systems, I say copy and copy again so it's not lost to time.

There was another post in this thread that ultimately piracy becomes a matter of collecting. I used to be a terrible pirate, but storing all that crap locally takes way too much space. Especially when Steam has a sale and I can buy the option to permanently download it at any given time for 5 bucks.

I now have 1600 games in my steam library, so I have paid off my debt and then some. Then of course there are those games that were so epic I've bought multiple copies throughout the years (I'm thinking Raven Shield and Neverwinter Nights here... oh please someone do some porting of some Rainbow Six games!)

More on topic, yeah I've seen some of the Loki things in torrents, and sadly that may be the only way you can get them now. Would be fantastic if someone could get the publishing rights for the Linux versions of such great games as Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, and Civilization Call To Power (I beta tested that one back in the day!)