Proprietry versus FLOSS? No; it's Piracy versus FLOSS.

It suddenly strikes me how many new/potential Ubuntu users ask if the latest version of Photoshop runs on Ubuntu. It seems like there are millions of people who use their home computer for OS experimentation, gaming, and graphics production work all at the same time! And these people who can afford all the latest games can not only afford a $1000 state-of-the-art image editing program, but also have a pressing need to use this rather than the free Gimp.

The answer: Few of these people have bought a legitimate copy of Photoshop. It's all pirated, through and through. Free software contending with illegal software.

It puts me in a difficult situation. I detest people who try to consider their piracy under any other terms. Some of my customers ask "Will it play DVDs bought from Bali?", to which my answer is "Yes, pirated DVDs will play in all DVD players" :-)  So I detest people who look the other way and *think* the other way, but on the same token I copy CDs and DVDs for people all the time and barely think anything of it. I accept pirated DVDs and bootlegs all the time. I used to download music illegally back when it was easy. I've downloaded cracked software. Am I a hypocrite? I'm probably getting close to being one!

I also hate the way the content creators use Digital Restrictions (including serial numbers and phone-home in software), because it's a PITA and it hampers legitimate use of the material. But then, these factors also prompt people to look into alternatives such as FLOSS. That, of course, is why Microsoft don't really pursue Windows pirates very often.

For an article which starts off on this sort of topic and then goes on a tangent, check out this article from IT Wire.