Exactly. And lifetime is just about 100 bucks, who cares. Sure it sounds like more than the casual $2 you throw at a random app to remove ads, but considering that I used Sync daily for ~12 years, it’s really just peanuts in the long run.
I’ve bought a bunch of seemingly cheaper apps and then used them 10 times over 2 years and they ended up discontinued, that’s like 20 cents per use.
I’d have racked up tens of thousands with Sync that way. Easily the most used app on my phone.
If it’s open source, the developer can’t monetize it. Everyone will just be able to remove ads and compile it from scratch.
FOSS is all fine and dandy, unless being a developer for a popular service (or app) is your sole source of income.
IMHO whenever you actively need something and the owner either doesn’t make it available or the price is prohibitively expensive, it’s justified. That especially includes papers, books and other tuition material that’s been paywalled or made expensive as hell without any actual reason, even more so if the author gets next to no compensation.
Downloading series and movies that aren’t being streamed anymore, by all means.
When it comes to current movies, it depends on what’s available. Unfortunately most streaming platforms don’t have Chinese subtitles, and my wife often struggles to fully follow the original audio and the English subs often disappear too quickly.
For software, my personal stance is that if you use something every once in a while, pirate away. If you use it regularly and/or generate income from it, then pay your dues.
He was also doing a PhD at the same time, and writing a dissertation is not exactly a small feat.