At the Ukrainian and English channels present a couple similar comments(not the same but, very close).

They was left behind different videos, but i need to give some answers.

English video was about “Ansys for Free”

So question:

The strategy is to make students dependent on the software so that when they transition to industry, the common outcome is to continue with the usage and pay upwards of $50000 for a single license. Just like how many people are dependent on Windows.

Let’s try to answer

Agree & disagree. But it is too complicated to answer in a couple of words (especially for me). in short

1. Yep, but it’s not an issue because:

1.1. the student (especially at the beginning of their career) didn’t pay for the software. Their employer does. And in most cases, employers who use expensive (but best software) pay more than those who use cheap ones.
So it could be a good option for students too

1.2. more vendors make their software free for students and hobbyists – more people with knowledge present on the market. More people mean a higher competitive challenge for software. Challenge mean better functionality, better usability, and lower price (not all in one moment, but it is present in some mixes)

1.3 more engineers with skills on the market didn`t offend salary because of the huge deficit in every direction, especially for competitive specialists.

1.4. option available not only for students before they start the transition to the industry, but also for engineers, and designers who are already in industry

2. Yep, but it’s not an issue because:

2.1. During engineering life, the World and Circumstances sometimes push us to change our region of residence, employers, industry fields, job roles, and tools that we use for jobs… If we are not able to adopt – we will be out of the market, out of life.

2.2. If someone has a strong background in fundamental principles – this person will have opportunities to effectively switch “the tool” at any single moment. If someone has only skills in software – it means that this person will not be able to solve real-world tasks on their own. No matter which software we talk about and how much it costs

2.3. So, the main goal for everyone must be not to study the software but to study things that are the basement of the software and the engineering workflow.

2.4. And all we need skills for self-education and flexibility for whole our life

3. No, you are not fully right because:

3.1 For students there are a lot of options for which “software” to learn for free: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XguR8YdTyC0 and commercial prices for all this software are very different. not all cost 50k

3.2 the price for Ansys can also be very different. Yep, the lifetime version for Ansys with features for solving 90% of all possible tasks – costs about 50k (for the exact price, it’s better to talk with Ansys partners). And the main Ansys concurrents will give for the same options – almost the same price.
But..
First of all, “young specialist who only finish their transitions to industry” at the very beginning of their career can’t effectively solve 90% of tasks; they don’t need full (or almost full) functional. And there are a lot of options (both from Ansys, all concurrents and free software) which can be used with the same effectivenes at these moments of industry specialist growth.

3.3 Price for Ansys software, especially if we talk not about lifetime but about “subscriptions” or SAAS/CAAS/XAAS… can be much cheaper and accessible. For details – connect with Ansys partners in your region. Additionally presents discounts for Startups, Universities, etc.

3.4. As I said – in most cases, students who know FEA/CFD software and their relative theoretical background (at the beginning of their transitions to industry) – mostly didn’t have questions about how to buy Software. Because even with the software, they need job (or name/reputation and connections to obtain outsource projects), they need skills, they need expirience.
And those last things you can’t buy for simple money. they cost much more – time and efforts which you spend for a very long

4. The last in general, but not list.
My content, in most cases, is not about “the Ansys”. It is about “Computational Mechanics” or FEA “with Ansys”, or about “Geometric Modeling” with some CAD, or about other PLM questions.
In most cases, it’s more simple to show it in some examples with software than without

But if you have your own opinion – please write in comments