If I could watch content on Hulu, Netflix or other in Linux and I didn't want to throw myself in front of the lunatic-driven University bus, I'd be happy.
TPB -> "The Italian Job" + 3 hours = me happy. There is NO legal alternative for me. No, I'm not walking 30 miles to Best Buy to waste $30 on a DVD that won't play in my computer that doesn't have a DVD drive. And I don't consider running Win7 in a VM to be reasonable at all.
There are plenty of legal alternatives for you. Indeed, you just mentioned several of them, and another is not to consume that particular content at all and to find your entertainment in some other way.
Please don't pretend anyone somehow forced you to break the law. You chose to do that yourself.
1. Hulu in Linux is effectively impossible. It's completely broken in Chrome and it stops after 10 minutes of playback in Firefox. More importantly, it does not have the movies I'm interested in.
2. Netflix has no client or support for Linux. Microsoft won't license the DRM components and Netflix refuses to change.
I never, ever mentioned that I was forced into breaking the law, but thanks for putting those words into my mouth. Make no bones about it. I broke the law because it is more convenient. I would pay for the movies if, as I already stated, I wasn't forced to borrow someone's car to buy a frickin DVD.
Surely, you can understand that "Don't consume the content at all" is as much of a copout as someone saying they were "forced" to steal the content. Both I and the movie industry would benefit from me having easier access to the content that I would happily pay for.
This is partly why I'm hopeful to see what Amazon has in store.
I did NOT come here to justify my actions, piracy or to complain and nothing in my post can be construed as an attempt to do so. I came to point out that watching a movie, legally, in Linux is a complete disaster, to the point that it's not worth the hassle for me. I understand it's breaking the law. I'd rather break the law than go through the nightmare of obtaining the movie legally.
How am I supposed to watch "The Italian Job" legally in Linux? I'm listening, because I would happily pay for it rather than torrent it.
I think the problem that I (and presumably the others in this thread) had with your point was two-fold:
1) your tone and choice of language implied entitlement;
2) if not a defence of piracy, did not add a great deal to the conversation.
So what if watching movies in Linux is a complete disaster for you? If you agree that you are not entitled to be able to do this and do not believe that it justifies piracy, it's not clear why this is any more relevant than the fact you can't play back movies on your toaster.
1. Watching movies legally is more of a hassle than not.
2. The cost is not the prohibitive factor for me. The hassle, slash near-complete inability to purchase them in Linux is.
3. This article is a discussion of making movies available, legally, with a monetary exchange, if they were made more accessible to a wider audience.
4. Everyone wins by me being able to watch movies legally. Movie associations receive more income, I don't violate the law, and everyone is a tiny bit happier.
Considering that this article is about making movies more accessible for the exchange of money... how exactly are my observations not contributing to the discussion?
Call it entitlement or whatever you want, but as I'm sitting here, I'm kinda bemused by the notion that I'm expected to just not have any access to cost-based media because I'm a Linux user. I know I have no "right" to it, but again, I'm sitting here saying I'm willing to pay, and the industry is ignoring me.
From a purely business perspective, that makes NO sense.
TPB -> "The Italian Job" + 3 hours = me happy. There is NO legal alternative for me. No, I'm not walking 30 miles to Best Buy to waste $30 on a DVD that won't play in my computer that doesn't have a DVD drive. And I don't consider running Win7 in a VM to be reasonable at all.