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Show HN: LibreBoard – An open-source clone of Trello

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Re: Show HN: LibreBoard – An open-source clone of Trello

#41

Post by streptomycin »

huhtenberg wrote: post #32
ericskiff wrote: post #2

While I love the idea of an open source tool that explores the same problems that Trello does and potentially even solves it in a very similar way, I have to admit that the exact look and feel being copied here seems like a blatant rip off. Am I off base? Can anyone speak to the copyright aspect of copying a solution and design so fully?

Even setting aside the legality of this rip, doesn't the ethical aspects of it bother anyone as well? Designing a simple and functional UI is really hard. It takes ages to sift through possible options, discard the fluff, iterate over the details and while the end result is endearingly simple, it ends up fronting a shitload of sweat and tears. And then someone just waltzes in waving their Libre flag and the middle fi…

That doesn't bother me. You could make a similar argument about some aspect of nearly every piece of open source software. Web design isn't special. What about C# vs Mono, Matlab vs Octave, Unix vs GNU/Linux, etc.?

(Just to be clear... directly copying assets and code is not cool.)

Re: Show HN: LibreBoard – An open-source clone of Trello

#43

Post by mindcrime »

huhtenberg wrote: post #32
ericskiff wrote: post #2

While I love the idea of an open source tool that explores the same problems that Trello does and potentially even solves it in a very similar way, I have to admit that the exact look and feel being copied here seems like a blatant rip off. Am I off base? Can anyone speak to the copyright aspect of copying a solution and design so fully?

Even setting aside the legality of this rip, doesn't the ethical aspects of it bother anyone as well? Designing a simple and functional UI is really hard. It takes ages to sift through possible options, discard the fluff, iterate over the details and while the end result is endearingly simple, it ends up fronting a shitload of sweat and tears. And then someone just waltzes in waving their Libre flag and the middle fi…

"Good artists borrow, great artists steal".

That said, yeah, I have a problem with stealing actual source code, even if it is "just" CSS and HTML or whatever. But as far as cribbing the "look and feel" stuff, I personally don't have a problem with it. And to the extent that I know anything about the legal aspects, I thought there was some old case involving Lotus or Adobe or somebody, that established that copying "look and feel" is legal?

Edit: Here's more on the legal aspect:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Computer,_Inc._v._Microso....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Look_and_feel#Lawsuits_over

Re: Show HN: LibreBoard – An open-source clone of Trello

#44

Post by tedunangst »

Jugurtha wrote: post #42

Reading all what is said, I can't keep myself from having words spring into my head: UNIX, GNU, Linux, Minix... I can use grep, cat, ls and so many commands on so many different machines... Same names, same functions, and the same UI (black screen, anyone?).

Was GNU grep implemented by somebody writing the code or running "cp unix/grep.c gnu/grep.c"?

Re: Show HN: LibreBoard – An open-source clone of Trello

#45

Post by vladsanchez »

franciscop wrote: post #20
ericskiff wrote: post #2

While I love the idea of an open source tool that explores the same problems that Trello does and potentially even solves it in a very similar way, I have to admit that the exact look and feel being copied here seems like a blatant rip off. Am I off base? Can anyone speak to the copyright aspect of copying a solution and design so fully?

I completely agree. I think they're looking for trouble, they crossed that line between "for fun" and "messing with a great website".

I was yelling "Blasphemy!"

Re: Show HN: LibreBoard – An open-source clone of Trello

#46

Post by mwg66 »

austenallred wrote: post #21

I love the idea of open source tools, but this goes way too far. This isn't just rebuilding a popular concept, this is taking code that was written by a for-profit company and blatantly stealing it. There's an important difference. The earlier versions of this repo still used the Trello logo. Trello's CSS is blatantly used, even using trellicons, the custom icon font created by Trello. The entire front-end is complet…

If the authors have genuinely copied CSS and icons (I haven't checked) then I would expect Trello Inc. to pursue the authors for copyright infringement (justifiably).

The point is to be very precise with the criticism. Is the work stolen (protected by copyright law) or is it just a convincing clone?

Re: Show HN: LibreBoard – An open-source clone of Trello

#47

Post by markdown »

huhtenberg wrote: post #32
ericskiff wrote: post #2

While I love the idea of an open source tool that explores the same problems that Trello does and potentially even solves it in a very similar way, I have to admit that the exact look and feel being copied here seems like a blatant rip off. Am I off base? Can anyone speak to the copyright aspect of copying a solution and design so fully?

Even setting aside the legality of this rip, doesn't the ethical aspects of it bother anyone as well? Designing a simple and functional UI is really hard. It takes ages to sift through possible options, discard the fluff, iterate over the details and while the end result is endearingly simple, it ends up fronting a shitload of sweat and tears. And then someone just waltzes in waving their Libre flag and the middle fi…

If you want to see a completely original UI with not a single thing "borrowed" from elsewhere, my 5yr old has some drawings to show you.

This specific case takes it too far, there's no doubt about that. But you can be sure that the Trello designer was heavily influenced by those that came before him. UI designers spend half their time looking at UI's designed by others to see what works and what doesn't.

In fact, more often than not, UI design should be copied. You don't design a completely different light switch just because you want to be original. Function before form.

Re: Show HN: LibreBoard – An open-source clone of Trello

#48

Post by zo1 »

Globz wrote: post #28

Wow...this looks like a clone of Trello, sorry I cannot support this. I have been using Trello for a long time and I refuse to give credits to someone who blatantly stole the assets, code, etc. and didn't even care to AT LEAST add a different touch to the project. I love open source but this project is off the limit concerning copyrights.

What code did they steal, exactly? They re-implemented all of the functionality, and I'm not sure they took take the JS either. So at this point, it leaves CSS + Look&Feel, and I think they took some icons, though that seems like more of an oversight as it's still a young project from the looks of it.

I don't see this as any different to such works as OpenTTD (Transport Tycoon Deluxe) and CorsixTH (Theme Hospital). Both open-source remakes of the popular closed-source games. Obviously they don't bundle the media (graphics, etc), and just ask end-installers to point to the installation files of the originals. You could argue that hot-linking css is quite similar to that, though not exactly.

The real problem is them putting this not-yet-sanitized-of-all-copyright-infringment onto a public-facing site with a domain and everything. If it was still on Github, then that's fine. But they jumped the bandwagon a little too soon, and people are escalating it incredibly quickly.

Re: Show HN: LibreBoard – An open-source clone of Trello

#49

Post by [deleted] »

mwg66 wrote: post #46
austenallred wrote: post #21

I love the idea of open source tools, but this goes way too far. This isn't just rebuilding a popular concept, this is taking code that was written by a for-profit company and blatantly stealing it. There's an important difference. The earlier versions of this repo still used the Trello logo. Trello's CSS is blatantly used, even using trellicons, the custom icon font created by Trello. The entire front-end is complet…

If the authors have genuinely copied CSS and icons (I haven't checked) then I would expect Trello Inc. to pursue the authors for copyright infringement (justifiably). The point is to be very precise with the criticism. Is the work stolen (protected by copyright law) or is it just a convincing clone?

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: LibreBoard – An open-source clone of Trello

#50

Post by tedunangst »

nadams wrote: post #37
austenallred wrote: post #21

I love the idea of open source tools, but this goes way too far. This isn't just rebuilding a popular concept, this is taking code that was written by a for-profit company and blatantly stealing it. There's an important difference. The earlier versions of this repo still used the Trello logo. Trello's CSS is blatantly used, even using trellicons, the custom icon font created by Trello. The entire front-end is complet…

I'm on the fence on this one - I could argue either way (I could probably work a books worth of material). However, I think it is interesting to note that the idea of "stealing" a design has been done for years. I just don't think many people do it to websites. Examples - there are companies that bundle premade controls that look pretty darn close to the designs in paid software. Here is an example of one: https://ww…

A year ago HN lost its mind after full screen Mario was shutdown. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6703002
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