Funny Post and Paranoid Chinese Software End Users

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The Post

Take a look at this web page: http://bbs.pcpop.com/070604/876055.html
The topic reads, "MP3切割工具——MP3 DirectCut绿色破解版免费下载" (MP3 splitter--MP3 DirectCut green cracked version free download).
Now on the homepage of MP3 DirectCut it reads, "Download mp3DirectCut: 190 KB · simple installer (selfextracting zip) · Freeware". So it is indeed free, and there is no need for a crack. I remember it being green also, but it does not really matter, for the software is not loaded with junk and can be uninstalled cleanly.

The funny thing is how the words Green, Free, and Cracked are emphasized over the Chinese download community. It is like that no one wishes to distribute their software for Free; if they don't, then all you have to do is to have it Cracked; if they do, then the software package certainly will not be Green, and will surely be loaded with adware and spyware and the like. Therefore, even this wonderful little program called "MP3 DirectCut" is free and clean by itself, there is still need to assure downloaders that it is Free, Cracked (as if to make sure it is quality and Clean software). The average Chinese computer users have to worry about all these. Without understanding the circumstances of the Chinese downloading community, this will look utterly pointless.

The Reflection

This is a reflection of the sad truth in the software industry in China. Proprietary software does not sell, and free (as in "free beer") software does not come clean. It is understandable that the consumers would wish to save and the producers would wish to make money, but it is astonishing that for the most of us, the demand and supply curves does not form a market equilibrium--I doubt that they meet.

Starting from Windows 95, I have turned to the free (as in "free beer and free speech") world of GNU/Linux, and currently run an Arch Linux installation. I have been a minor non-programmer contributor to the Linux world for some time now. The equilibrium has worked for me quite well so far, although not perfectly, because the world at large is Windows. I cannot say that it will work well for all the others, especially for the majority of the Chinese who are not willing to pay the price as it is set. The market theory tells that demand and supply will work out an acceptable price, but it does not tell us why for so long (more than 10 years?) the price is still not acceptable in China.

We need a change.

And the one line above is just empty words. If I do have a better way, I myself might become a millionaire based just on that :P

We all need to think hard about it. Not just live with it. Live with it and change it for the better.