pledge for forum safety

[concreteok]

To all users,

I believe all of you will agree with me that civilea is a great place for all of you, the civil engineers to be. Here i would like to make a pledge to you to make this place 'safe'. All of us have heard that web closed down due to the some infringement.

Stop posting 'transparent' links here. I do not know for sure but ppl who has better knowledge has been telling that this will expose to search engines and that won't be very good in long run.

Softwares are especially sensitive.

Just like the way struceng sign off, the softwares here are not free. if u like it, get licensed. Verongskey has asked you to learn from them then get a license.

Pls do not put unnecessary exposure on us. If u choose to share it at your workplace, keep it low profile. My point is if you happen to know someone in the software company, do not in any position put us in the picture. If civilea is endangered, nobody benefits from it.

[faros3000]

Dear concreteok,

You have really made a point. Software is not for free, nor in this site nor in the entire web nor your around-the-corner-market. BennyP (before he was a so-called "retired moderator" which BTW I don´t really know what is supposed to mean) used to tell that at least a great number of users of this forum were like children in a candy store.

I imagine that like having your pc desktop full with 50 plus icons of equal number of illegal software in that pc so, what´s the sense of that? I bet that if you are a structural engineer, you do not need primavera software, nor plaxis. On the other hand, if you are an hydraulic engineer, there´s no sense on having RISA 3D nor Etabs.

Do not be like a child in a candy store!

I am a structural engineer in a developing country. I run a very small engineering office. I don´t have enough money for Autocad 2010 full version. But instead, we bought Autocad Light for around 1000 USD. I tried Shake2000 posted here and guess what: we are buying it now for 1000 USD including both a license and a training course!!!

I clearly understand is not the same living and doing projects in New York than in Denmark than in Costa Rica than in Egypt that in RD Congo. But that´s the issue: if you live in clearly developing countries like Central and South-America, and some parts of South-East Asia or Middle-East, you can work a little bit harder to get original software. If you live in a developed country and u r using illegal software, I can not find a propper word to describe you w/o an offense. If you live in sub-saharian countries, I know you can clearly and sincerely talk to big companies and they will give you a very friendly price for the software. I know this because I know the guys of CSI for example, and I have seen Mr Ashraf Habibulah give away its software Etabs and Sap for closed to nothing.

Be legal. You can do it. And the profession deserves it. If I design a builing and generate 20-drawings, the last thing I want to see is someone using my details and my notes for another design/project. It´s the same a software developer experience!!!

Try to be the best in your field, and then you will find yourself in a position where you can afford a nice place to job, a nice electronic environment where you can perform your calculations and paying for the software you really need and use. Be competitive.

Finally, obviuosly I do not posses the absolute true word: it is just how I see things.

Best to all.

P.S. Admin: do not believe you are not in the picture for software companies. For over the years I have made friends around the world including big guys inside the big developer companies. Some of them are more relaxed than others. Maybe the Plaxis guys won´t come after you who are downloading Plaxis foundation, cause they do not think if u r in jail or get a fine u will change ur mind. But maybe the developer guys of AutoCad will. But for sure: ALL OF THEM KNOW OF THIS SITE.

The downside of getting a website like this down is not the fact of loosing download links for illegal software. The really sad part would be loosing the very useful comments some of you post here, and info that is not copyrighted that many of us are not aware of. Examples? Look at the discussion of how to model piles or mat foundations using CSI Safe.

[killoobilloo]

you can use services such as h.ttp://anonym.to/... so that the target could not know from where the link is mentionned.

Regards.

[Dell_Brett]

Nice idea! But the must common search engines (like google) can find our posts (not the links).
It's an step in security, but there's more to do!

Regards

Dell

[tarugo]

it will be really frustrating to loose this very good forum just because of irresponsible guys that tends to broadcast this forum on some advertisements sites, etc. many good and experienced engineers as well as students alike benefit from the good information that can be gained from this site. i'm looking forward that this forum will last for a long time because it is really helpful to every members who are sharing and reading all the articles posted. i just hope that we can establish the security aspect of this site so in our own little way we should do our part and be responsible enough...regards

[kriscivilea]

this is a good forum, i wish it grows and many more join to share their professional experiences and contribute.....what was stated in first post by moderator is to be well understood by the members not to jeopardise the security of the site by unnecessary advertising.....thx