TheDownloadCulture is the variant of ConsumerCulture existent in these early 
days of broadband. In pursuit of convenience, they downloaded copyrighted
materials from Napster and Gnutella. It also doesn't hurt that they get all this stuff for free.

''When reading, "TheDownloadCulture", I had in mind more people who have a compulsive need to download anything and everything, especially JunkWare (err, ShareWare).  But I suppose it applies equally to those annoying napsterites.  It probably also applies to people who collect computer video, legal or not.''

I think the term includes not only collecting versions of software for use, but also participation in the Emails lists and news groups which go with them, thus contributing to the knowledge about the software and growth in it. Users can think of new ways to use and combine different pieces of software from different places. -- JohnFletcher

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To me, the Download Culture refers to those who won't consider obtaining 'ware in any way other than by downloading. If it ain't downloadable for free, they aren't interested.

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So something which is positive to some is a TermOfAbuse for others.
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See FreeSoftware 

TheDownloadCulture and FreeSoftware overlap only slightly, so I find this reference inappropriate. --MarkoSchulz

''I accept that they only overlap slightly for you. Please accept that may not be true for someone else, such as me.  --JohnFletcher''

The problem with this might be, that the understanding of both terms varies so much. --MarkoSchulz (Beeing a QuickChangesJunkie today)

''For me, one of the joys of WikiWiki is to realise the diversity. I agree that this is the better place for this discussion. --JohnFletcher''


I think TheDownloadCulture is often an entrypoint into the FreeSoftwareCommunity.  I first started using emacs because it was great to get so many features for free, and I didn't even think about why it was being given away.  At first, when I found bugs, I felt annoyed and cheated, even though I was paying nothing.  But then as I became a more experienced hacker I started to see them as opportunities to improve my systems, and I sent in patches.  Having my code accepted was a real thrill, and so I started to enjoy the feeling of being in a community.  Even later, I thought more about the economic and social implications of LibreSoftware and found a real commitment to the project.  This has taken about seven years so far, and it continues to deepen. -- MartinPool

''I too started using emacs because it was free.  I was working on NT, and I needed an editor that could handle large files (like 60+ meg text files).  The place I worked didn't want to buy such an editor, so I used emacs (which isn't a very good editor for such large files I found, but it was better than wordpad which was my other alternative).  I now get frustrated when worked in VB or InterDev when I hit Ctrl-A and everything gets selected, or Ctrl-f and the find dialog comes up.''

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Not (yet) to be confused with an UploadCulture.