I did not know where to post this question but I thought this would be the best place. I did a search for the book Head First Design Patterns and found free PDF downloads. My concern is if these are pirated copies. If the authors/publishers have made it available in PDF form I will use it, but if not I won't. Thanks for any advice.
Unless the download comes directly from the publisher's site, it's safe to assume that it's a pirated copy. Also this book is still for sale, which is another strong indicator it isn't also being given away free. Remember, downloading a pirated PDF is essentially the same as walking into a bookstore and stealing the book. Authors, particularly technical book authors, work extremely hard to write these books and deserve to be compensated for their work.
Greg Charles wrote:Unless the download comes directly from the publisher's site, it's safe to assume that it's a pirated copy. Also this book is still for sale, which is another strong indicator it isn't also being given away free. Remember, downloading a pirated PDF is essentially the same as walking into a bookstore and stealing the book. Authors, particularly technical book authors, work extremely hard to write these books and deserve to be compensated for their work.
If I didn't understand why you shouldn't use a pirated copy I wouldn't have asked the question. I did not understand why they would make the PDF form available (although their are some books which offer free e-versions but sell hard copies, not sure I understand why). Thanks for the input. I suspected it was pirated but couldn't find any info when I googled the question.
Yes, you did. Sorry, Kendall. My admonition against downloading pirated tech books wasn't aimed at you specifically. I just didn't want to talk about pirating without mentioning reasons not to do it.
Greg Charles wrote:Yes, you did. Sorry, Kendall. My admonition against downloading pirated tech books wasn't aimed at you specifically. I just didn't want to talk about pirating without mentioning reasons not to do it.
No problem. I have always thought copying software/movies/etc without the writers permission was the same as shoplifting. I appreciate the feedback. I have deleted the PDF copy of the book.