[Slight OT] TDPL in Russia

[retard]

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:35:32 +0400, Stanislav Blinov wrote:

> Author may not lose anything, but she actually doesn't gain what she
> could, so yes, this is stealing. Pirates steal profit (and often
> prestiege as well), profit that may have paid off spent time, nerves and
> money. And torrent user is not guaranteed to buy the book if *able* to
> download a .pdf as well. It doesn't stimulate authors to share more of
> their thoughts and knowledge when they see all their efforts are simply
> taken away without any kind of thanks. A book is not a car, you don't
> need to read it ALL before buying, and most modern authors and
> publishers provide samples so potential reader may see if the book is
> worth buying (btw, a whole chapter of TDPL was recently provided for all
> willing), so I don't see any reasons for advertisement here.

Do you think the libraries also steal from the authors? If I can't afford 
a book or don't find it important enough, I can ask the local library to 
order it and later read it for free. This also encourages other member of 
the target audience to loan the book without paying--the libraries have 
lists of most recent books and all kinds of enthusiastics subscribe to 
those lists. This is also a great way to introduce new readers to a 
topic. I've noticed that books I order get lots of attention after 
they're available from the shelves.

When I was a kid, I didn't have a credit card nor internet connection. It 
was impossible to buy books from online stores. The local libraries were 
the best places to find computer science / engineering related literature.

No one did mention that in addition to money, the book author gets 
truckloads of good reputation, if the topic turns out to be useful. You 
get invitations to all kinds of important places and employers. When I 
was still buying C++ books, I remember having this kind of conversation 
in a book store:

"Do you have any metaprogramming books?"
"Why, yes"
"Any books by Alexandrescu"
"Just this one"
"I'll take it then. Keep the rest."

Note that I'm not advocating piracy this time!