Lately, I found that due to my studies I really cannot find time for music without getting completely immersed in it. I got an idea. Making a VST Manager. It is NOT A VST HOST. It is something more like a VST Scanner (which supports VST3) and it will support downloading of cracked plugins. Unique, right? (Why isn't there anything like this already). Now about the programming part. Python is something I find very easy. It has tons of libraries and a real neat documentation. This is what I did (plz do not laugh at me, I am doing this just as a hobby:

1. Implemented a Plugin class which hold all the properties (like Name, Vendor, VST3?, 64bit support? etc., download links etc.)
2. Used PyVST to get VST information of already installed plugins on the system.
3. Made an XML file which stores the list of all available downloads. Also users can search for their plugin (like we do on A_Z) and this is where it got stuck...

Now warez are something that are just roaming on god knows how many websites but, they can mostly be downloaded manually (Not to talk about dead links). Links can be magnet links or just normal ones. While torrent could be the go-to option, when I checked for the latest plugins on rutracker.org, I simply could not find many of them. Now adding download links in the XML file is something I needed to do manually. I could add support for searching through upawg.ca but yet again it does not even have reFX Nexus 2.2 and any warez site is not complete. Some have more listings, some only have sample packs, some are not in English. Finally I found 'freshstuff4you.com' which also has links to uploaders having no speed or download limit. Good collection of warez just like A_Z. I could have automated getting the download links and search results from there, but then another problem came up - how about installing the plugin? Every plugin is packaged differently (some are even password protected). Even if I managed to extract the archive, how could I silently install the plugins? If my manager won't install then what is the use. Download can be done manually also, but installing to the correct location, modifying registry, patching the dll, using a keygen and adding it to our manager's database is all that needed to be still done manually. It simply could not be automated. Plus getting VST3 plugin information needed all C++ as PyVST is the only python library and support VST2.4 only. No VST3? What to do now?

Plus everything was in the terminal which is super unfriendly for noobs, I wanted to make something which will not require any additional skill if the user knows how to operate App Store or Play Store. Of course UI was all to be done later. Unfortunately yesterday my code got deleted when I did some moving with CMD commands. Anyways not much of the things in the above paragraph were implemented. I am not sure if I posted this in correct section.

I have another idea if the above one gets no comments. If not this I am already working on something which is like soundgym.co.. but all of the games in it are free.

 

If all the developers got together and created a Steam for plugins then piracy would go down by 52% according to my calculations.

 

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I've got a good idea, a class-action law suit against anybody who tries it.

 

First of all I didn't have time to read all of your text.
Second I don't think Python would not be appropriate for the job. I would recommend c++ or c#.
Look, In order to make something as intuitive as steam or google play store would require a crap ton of development by a team of devs. Doing that on your own would be VERY hard. It would also require good servers not just for the service itself but also for storing the terabytes and terabytes of cracked software out there.
This is the point I am trying to make: it would be very ecexpensive to create and maintain a service like that so you would need a source of income. Ads are just not gonna make enough. There needs to be a continuous revenue stream like a subscription model.
And here comes the biggest problem. Do you think plugin developers are gonna let you have a service like that. YOU WILL GET SUED TO OBLIVION AND BACK. There's no way you can away with something like that.

As a developer myself, I know that it's not a good feeling when some asshole on the internet tell you that your idea is not going to work. But what's even worst is when you spend a huge amount of time and resources first and THEN you realize it was a waste.

 

I think that was the idea behind plugin-alliance etc.

 

DUMBEST IDEA EVER!!!!

 

What's worse than that is when people steal your stuff without good reason. An idea like the one proposed here, although practically impossible, promotes lazy pirating. Why ever buy if it's always free and working and much easier to use than purchased software?

I support the idea of try before you buy wholeheartedly and you can only do that in many cases if you steal it for a bit.

I also support the idea of proportionate pricing. That is.. if you can't afford it and would never buy it anyway then, sure, have it for free (unless you can later afford to repay the unintentional kindness). A literally proportionate model is that you pay what you can afford - what it's worth to you as a hobbyist or a professional, as a poor bastard or a lucky rich bugger. The complexity and exploitability of such a system approaches that of socialism so.. screw it: we have piracy. And I think it works pretty well for everyone for the most part.

Maybe there's some losses for software developers due to piracy but, perhaps, there are also gains (there is a lot of material that suggests this is the case) and it might depend on the industry or how niche the software is. Regardless of the truth I don't believe for a second it's as bad as many developers claim. Pirated copies does not equate to direct loss of sales.

But people should be made to think about what they really need to pirate. Systems like this proposal would push it well beyond my ethical and moral boundaries.

 

Ah, that looks pretty good. I think the best way to fight piracy is to make the legit alternatives much easier to use and maintain.

I don't bother pirating games anymore when I can just have all my games gathered in one easy-to-use interface.

 

yea yea yea cool idea bro let's make it straight away yea...

 

It's almost an impossible task. Even if you succeeded many organizations would sue the shit out of you.
Also, it would be way more easier with torrents. The closest thing are torrent indexers.

Now that I think of it, Audiopsp.com is the most you could do.
Forget about the auto-downloading part and even more the auto-installing.

On the technical part, Python is indeed a very productive language when it comes to do internet related stuff. In fact, anything that is command-line like.
But some parts I'm guessing would require a faster tightly OS-integrated desktop oriented language, like C#, C++ (if you're brave), and so on

 

Last edited: Aug 14, 2019

What amaze me is that the OP isn't a newbie otherwise this thread would just be some kind of trolling...

 

OMG, I didn't realize

Yeah, I'm totally buying it. That's why I gave a detailed answer.

 

Could be interesting to hear how you came to exacty (down by 52%) by your very own calculations

This is real science!!!! or ????

 

I'm sure it's AAAI (Advanced Analog Artificial Intelligence), but it should be updated frequently as the vengeance-gate develops (https://audiosex.pro/threads/important-news-from-vps-avenger-developer.45361/)

 

Before you have it finished, it's gonna appear on sister site.
Sorry about that..

 

It's just basic math. Right now the warez scene makes up for 25% of the market while the paid plugins add up to 88/2=45. 25+45=71 meaning that 29% is still missing. The missing 29% is what the developers would gain from my suggested business model. So 71% minus 29% equals 52%. It's just approximations but somewhere around 50% at least.