Quote:
Originally Posted by xendula
If I am not mistaken, you don't understand why someone would be donating their time to what they believe is a good cause, if they do it anonymously?
Some people do good (up to everyone to interpert their own way what good is) out of conviction, not for the thanks. That itself makes them "feel good".
Project Gutenberg would not exist without people like this.
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No, I don't understand how someone who is stealing a work can feel good about making it available to other people (they are giving away something that does not belong to them). I don't really think anyone interprets it as "good" because even if you think you have a reason for doing it, you have to know it hurts the author.
I get the difference between donating time anonymously to a good cause (and legal ones) and respect volunteers greatly.
But uploading something to an illegal site--no matter your personal feelings on "information wants to be free" ... well, anyone doing it has to know it is illegal for a reason. Anyone doing it has to know they are taking revenue from an author and to put hours and hours of work into something like that...I can't see feeling good about it, nor can I see how they can feel they are doing someone else a favor because it is not "Theirs" to give. I'm not saying they don't feel as you describe, but I don't see how they can feel that way.
But in any case, that's not what the thread was/is about, so no need to continue discussion on my reaction to it.