Chapter 5: The Release

Overview

A release is the result of a lot of work, It takes a supplier, a cracker, and a packager many hours to produce a final product.

A release is to a cracker what a canvas is to an artist (i.e., an expression of self and a transformation of time into a tangible product). To the end user, a release is a pirated application that is compressed and includes notes on how to install and use the product It is the final link in the piracy chain.

Pirates take each release very seriously; it is more than just a release to them, it is an art form. It is human nature to take pride in the things that you invest time and effort into. For crackers, each release becomes a creation, something unique that the group submits to the warez group scene. For example:

• NuSphere_phpED_v3.2.3217_WORKING-FCN

• 321Studios.DVDXCopy.Platinum.v3.2.1.WinAll.Cracked-EAT

• Roxio.Easy.Media.Creator.v7.0-AGAiN

These are all official releases listed from a scene site. They are all uniform in style; the directory names are specific, stating the product, the developing company, and the product version. The directory names use underscores instead of spaces and each directory is suffixed with the group that released it. Inside each directory, the file names are eight characters long with a three-letter extension. Each release is split into disks ranging from 2.8MB to 5MB in size, and each is individually zipped. The first disk in a set contains an Info File (NFO), which provides information about the release. Further disks in...