Stealing Is a Skill • Hacker News Board

Re: Stealing Is a Skill

#111

Post by dchftcs » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 8:36 PM UTC

antonvs wrote: post #88

dchftcs wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A bit tough to say this, but transformers are trained the same way.

No. They're trained on the data, but there's no point in training at which they go through some exercise that involves creating copies of some of their input using the model being trained. In any case, why is it "a bit tough to say this"? You thought your ability to learn was irreproducible?

You're right that I jumped the gun and the analogy is not accurate. The point where they are similar is that you have the prefix as context as you try to type out the next word; it is a more deliberate form of reading, and when you do this there's an element of anticipation and analysis as you write each word. It's not quite the same as constantly trying to guess the next word, in my mind the elevated way of thinking was close, probably as close as it's humanely possible, but the analogy does break down there.

On the other hand, you can embrace all this and still let others weep about humanity a little.

Re: Stealing Is a Skill

#112

Post by pnexk » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 8:46 PM UTC

cjcenizal wrote: post #6

My favorite quote that expresses this idea is from Mikhail Kalashnikov, designer of the AK-47: “Before attempting to create something new, it is vital to have a good appreciation of everything that already exists in this field.”

In a similar vein, one of my favorite HN comments in the context of the modernist movement. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27243252

Re: Stealing Is a Skill

#113

Post by robocat » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 9:03 PM UTC

BHSPitMonkey wrote: post #105

adamddev1 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jazz musicians also copy each other's solos for learning and practice purposes, but they would never actually perform more than a couple well placed quotes or licks from another player.

I think there's a big difference between jazz and corporate landing pages. Should we be surprised or shocked when different brands of microwave ovens have very similar controls?

Perhaps there has been some convergence towards microwave usability that I haven't experienced yet.

Microwave oven keypad controls are a terrible example: I've had some terrible troubles attempting to use ones that force you to set power level - half the time start isn't even obvious...

I bought one with a timer knob and a power knob that is mostly usable (but still poorly designed in some ways). Usable enough that I bought the same model for my parents. I would like the power level to be a slider not a digital knob, even though the knob is an improvement over a keypad.

Re: Stealing Is a Skill

#114

Post by TacticalCoder » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 9:08 PM UTC

agilek wrote: post #102

Is the state of the webdesign really in a point where people bluntly copy others work for commercial purposes and celebrate these acts on their blogs? I think the line is pretty clear here. I remember the old Dan Mall's article on this topic which is much more inspirational (and "correct"): https://medium.com/@danielmall/stealing-your-way-to-original...

> Is the state of the webdesign really in a point where people bluntly copy others work for commercial purposes and celebrate these acts on their blogs?

Yes and the reason is not subtle...

We'll see much more of that now: people defending theft and then arguing that if you change the position of one comma in the entirety of Harry Potter, then it's an acceptable new product.

It's crystal clear why: LLMs are very good at copying / stealing / tweaking.

What's not clear though is how are licenses, including the open-source ones, respected here?

I'm not just talking about copying a website pixel-for-pixel: I'm talking about things like re-implementing a compiler, supposedly from scratch, when we all know it's not at all a clean room implementation.

Expect a wave of "theft is good" from the same people who are pushing 24/7 "buy commercial AI models subscriptions" content (which I have btw so no need to sell me more of them).

> We bet that vibecoding would allow us to move faster

"Theft is good"

Re: Stealing Is a Skill

#115

Post by m3kw9 » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 9:14 PM UTC

In UI they call that "Affordance"

Re: Stealing Is a Skill

#116

Post by Chu4eeno » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 9:16 PM UTC

ohitsdom wrote: post #44

Isn't this essentially what LLMs do? Others have said it, but I'm not a fan of the cookie cutter approach. Build on UX patterns that work, but try new things too. It'll be hard to let your brand infuse the design when you're doing a line for line reproduction.

Only if you set the temperature at 0.

Otherwise you get the divinely inspired result of nvidia's PRNG implementation.

Re: Stealing Is a Skill

#117

Post by paulhebert » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 9:22 PM UTC

simonw wrote: post #109

BHSPitMonkey wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you not believe that the design of the "stolen" landing page was not itself 97% stolen from marketing landing pages that came before it? It's unusual seeing the process stated so bluntly, but for something as cookie-cutter as a company homepage this has been how web designers have done things for decades. Or, at the very least, it's how the craft is learned.

I don't think it was. I think the Mintlify designers viewed dozens if not hundreds of examples, then thought very carefully about exactly what they needed to express for their page and how best to express it. Then they built their page step by step, sweating over every detail. Then Kibu came along, lifted the entire thing, changed "3%" of it and called it their own. What Kibu did is gross.

Agreed. As someone who has built landing pages like that professionally you take inspiration from a wide range of sources.

Directly copying is tacky and immoral - it's also not effective. You should be thinking about how to position _your product_ not how someone else positioned their product.