“In honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, today’s
editorial was contributed by a character that both the proprietary
software industry and the free software movement fear and loathe: A
software pirate. According to the high-handed moral arbiters of the
world, a person of such questionable character and loose (as in the
opposite of tight, despite what you may have seen elsewhere on the
Web) morals is a danger to our very thoughts and consciences. So if
you are someone who is easily offended, or if your beliefs are so
flimsy that you are afraid they will be shaken by some pirate talk,
you may want to skip this one. On the other hand, if you’re one of
those people who secretly loves to be infuriated, and you’re a
proud member of the Church of Stallman or a Microsoft shareholder,
read on. This editorial is dedicated to every person who has ever
copied software and given it out to friends; doubly so if you also
gave them the activation crack…”