Hey, I'm thinking about a pirate playthrough, but, well pirates don't do research ... so I will basically go with everything unlocked.

It would be great if there were other ways except sitting before the console to get research progress, like:
* the salvager way: Every time a yet unknown device is dismantled something about it can be learned
* the pirate way: Conquer ships and steal or hack their databases, maybe interrogate prisoners/slaves
* the trader way: Pay for it