<p>Do you have to buy the Matlab software for the class? Is that what most people do? Or do they provide free copies or limited licenses or something?</p>
<p>it's not required that you buy the software. there is an optional lab where you use the school's computers, or you can purchase the software with a student discount.</p>
<p><em>cough</em>DC++<em>cough</em></p>
<p>Yes, you can purchase the software or just use it in the labs. Either way.</p>
<p>i don't know how i would have survived last semester without having my own copy. it's just not convenient having to go to the lab to finish homeworks and study for midterms. and yeah, i got it through dc++. oh, last semester the labs weren't optional at all. in order to hand in labs electronically, you had to send it from the lab's computers.</p>
<p>Has anyone got into trouble using dc++. I've heard of Berkeley students getting caught using illegal downloading.</p>
<p>It's very hard to catch someone on DC++, because it's internal to Berkeley. A snooper would have to be logged on to Berkeley's intranet, which is unlikely (since it requires a valid student ID and password). The stories you heard were probably about Internet2 usage (this is technically called the Abilene Network, according to Wikipedia). Bittorrent usage is also high, so I wouldn't be surprised if some people were caught on that.</p>
<p>There is always a risk, so if you don't want to get caught, don't use it.</p>