Can someone explain me the behavior of crowd when there are mostly downvotes because of one sentence in answer. And from other site wrong and misleading answer (also one sentence) get only upvotes
And here the answers in question:
mostly downvote and this sentence:
Do not use p2p/torrent to download this software!
mostly upvotes and this sentence:
As a point of clarification, it is not illegal to download Lightroom either, as long as you have paid for it
P2P/Torrents are sometimes used for legitimate downloads as well. You shouldn't pirate Lightroom, but if there is a download of the non-cracked installer on a P2P service, there's absolutely nothing wrong with downloading it via P2P which may very well be faster than from Adobe's site.
I'd guess the downvote was probably for the very random bit about Lightroom. They weren't talking about downloading Lightroom at all, so it was very out of left field. Mostly people have been unvoting though, only one person downvoted, I'm not sure that's really something to get too worried about.
Your answer was likely downvoted because it contained a broad rebuke of the use of p2p downloading for any reason. Because the question was specifically about darktable, "Do not use p2p/torrent to download this software!" appears to refer to darktable. (I didn't vote, but vaguely recall having that impression.)
Further, in the comments, it appeared you were doubling down on the recommendation to not use p2p to download darktable. You even extended your statement to include other open-source software (Debian). You had opportunity to change course to refer to LR or restrict your statement to proprietary software, but you didn't back down.
Even though you've changed the statement to refer to LR, reading your comments on this page, it still seems you recommend against using p2p software at all. You are allowed to have that opinion, but other people are also allowed to disagree and downvote.
The other answer does not come across to me as "wrong". However, it does not directly answer the question. I did not vote for it either. I felt both answers were lacking, so wrote my own.
The following is a partial account from the comments to illustrate – it appears you're speaking against p2p generally.
Philip Kendall asked:
Why shouldn't I download Debian, which includes Darktable, via BitTorrent? (Yes, I know I'm being slightly pedantic here)
You replied:
Because AFAIK in Germany network traffic is monitored and maybe you will get in your mail a fine. Of course you can complain and provide evidences Debian is free software, etc. But why put yourself in troubles?
flolilo said:
Errrr....and why would they do that? There is nothing, I repeat, nothing in European or German law that prohibits you from using BitTorrent. It is, however, illegal to download pirated software - no matter whether you use P2P or not. If your P2P software uploads pirated software (which you downloaded before) while you download darktable with it, you may get fined - for uploading, not for downloading.
errors happen. And then you should prove this is free software. It's wise to stay away from torrents/p2p.
I have several examples (of fines) about usage of P2P and one of them was wrong. But as you know this kind of statistic should be checked on government level.
"errors happen" - indeed. That's why we have courts and lawyers. Errors can happen to anyone at any time: You could, for example, get fined for driving too fast although you neither own a car nor have a driver's license and although never having bewn at the place of the speed trap in your while life. Does it happen often? Well, I heard of more of these cases (3) than about P2P-cases (0). Add that to the clear lack of laws that prohibit P2P usage and...
That's why we have lawyers and courts. I find it very hard to believe that the sentence was "use of illicit P2P software". I could be wrong of course, but I guess that at least heise/c't and/or other computer-specific news outlets would publish such cases, especially if there was an error involved.
I'm not sure I understand your complaint.
Your statement, that one should not use p2p software to download Darktable, is misleading and confusing.
The other statement, that it's not illegal to download Lightroom when it's properly paid for (e.g. from https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-lightroom.html) seems fine.
If you disagree, use your own votes.
I didn't vote but your
Do not use p2p/torrent to download LR software!
did sound odd. Nothing wrong with P2P per se, even to download LR software if you have the license. If it's a warning that the Adobe folks could be setting up bait torrents to catch the IPs of downloaders for legal action, it should be stated more clearly. If it is a general warning against P2P, then it is possibly misinformed (P2P is safer than shady download sites).
