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I built Excel for Uber and they ditched it

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Re: I built Excel for Uber and they ditched it

#541

Post by concordDance »

whimsicalism wrote: post #532
concordDance wrote: post #413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not theft, it's copyright infringement and is very morally and practically different from theft. The range of circumstances in which it is morally acceptable are MUCH broader.

It's quite literally IP theft, not just copyright infringement.

Your jurisdiction may have a law called "IP theft" or it may not, either way the moral category of "theft" does nor apply.

(Also, if it was theft this particular example would be theft in the same way that taking a book from someone's recycling bin would be theft: no one is worse off)

Re: I built Excel for Uber and they ditched it

#542

Post by stormfather »

blackqueeriroh wrote: post #536
stormfather wrote: post #417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see the content as racist. If a wikipedia article lists the proportion of ethnic Chinese in Malaysia, is that a racist article too?

What is with the constant need to deploy logical fallacies? Here, you’re deploying false equivalence - what some person said as a first-person out loud based on unknown evidence that compared people to animals of some sort that walk on all fours is completely different than a Wikipedia article that contains sourced objective comparative data and shares it in third-person. And why are these two things different? Conte…

My constant need to deploy logical fallacies? Have you confused me with someone else? I've never talked with you before. And the sanctimonious bit about "bad science" and doing better doesn't make your post any more convincing. It comes across as virtue signaling and its pretty obnoxious.

Re: I built Excel for Uber and they ditched it

#543

Post by phendrenad2 »

diogenes4 wrote: post #533
phendrenad2 wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're missing a huge part of this: The "competition" you think you're referring to had, you know, actual rules. Sending people to get jobs at a rival, and steal all of their internal documents and trade secrets, is illegal in most countries.

> You're missing a huge part of this: The "competition" you think you're referring to had, you know, actual rules This is, of course, false.

Competition has no rules? Jury awards ZeniMax $500 million in Oculus VR lawsuit? I guess they made up some rules, no?

Re: I built Excel for Uber and they ditched it

#544

Post by sentimentscan »

iancmceachern wrote: post #480
sametmax wrote: post #450

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you learn how to build a castel with a very specific era look and feel as an architect, would you not then be likely hired to build a similar castel elsewhere?

I Do this for a living, ave for 20 years. I've designed many "castles" with similar looks and feels, similar materials, they work similarly. But I've never built the exact same castle, with the exact same Floorplan, with the exact same plans. That's what I'm highlighting that I've seen several times. A cool aside, I love this song by Watsky called "cardboard castles". Having done this for 20 years (build "cardboard c…

Do you have any portfolio of those castles? I am quite interested in the long future for maybe building one

Re: I built Excel for Uber and they ditched it

#545

Post by SenAnder »

vkazanov wrote: post #339
iancmceachern wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've watched this happen. I've watched key, core engineers and technical leaders work for US and European companies, develop their next generation products, then turn around and design and develop essentially the exact same thing for the Chinese market. They then build a company, in China, that makes essentially the same product, but for the Chinese Market, and with Chinese investors, etc. Examples: Thoratec/Abbot He…

So an engineer learns how to make something, and then goes elsewhere to make it. To be honest, the way you put ut, the story feels OK to me. There are many truly bad examples, e.g. the arm china story, but engineers doing their thing is not one of them.

It "feels OK", stripped of context, but nevertheless results in your industries slowly withering and getting taken over by their new Chinese competitors in what used to be their home market.

If you remove uniforms from a soccer match, you can celebrate each individual player's goal. But the team that forgets they are (or should be) playing a team game will be obliterated.

Re: I built Excel for Uber and they ditched it

#546

Post by mindslight »

iancmceachern wrote: post #465
berniedurfee wrote: post #438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s my understanding as well; that the Industrial Revolution in the US was very much based on IP from outside the US.

But was it state sponsored? My understanding is that it was mostly robber barrons doing their thing, which isn't really "The US", its more "People in the US".

This may be the furthest I've seen the false dichotomy between government and corporations stretched.

Re: I built Excel for Uber and they ditched it

#547

Post by BeFlatXIII »

peteradio wrote: post #488
BeFlatXIII wrote: post #470

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Information wants to be free. If it's not, it's your duty to liberate it.

This is so obnoxiously wrong. You could add qualifications to your statement to be less wrong but your statement as is is stupid. When I'm banging my wife is it my duty to start banging on the walls and bellow at my sleeping kids to let them know what I'm up to?

What does your analogy have to do with my post?

Re: I built Excel for Uber and they ditched it

#548

Post by dclowd9901 »

bastawhiz wrote: post #499
dclowd9901 wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s really not how it works. Ostensibly by showing it to box, it was written for box, and they would be well within a standard of legal standing to make your life a living hell for taking it elsewhere. You should really be more careful with what you say. Why would you wontonly open yourself to legal liability? You say “they’re free to come after you” but you really _really_ don’t want that. Ive seen that happen to…

You know, you're totally correct that they're well within their right to do... something. But why? What damages could they collect? It would take far less cash to rewrite the library I made from scratch than it would to pay lawyers to write some scary letters. There's no trade secrets. It's not even a novel idea. It would be terribly expensive and embarrassing for either Box or Uber to try to juice this even if they…

It’s not really about trying to figure out why they would do it. Think about pointing a loaded gun at your face. No one else is around and your hands are nowhere near the trigger. Would it be a good idea to do it? Most people would say no, because _why risk it_?

You had no good reason to tell us the origin of this other code, and could just as well have told us you threw it together a while back for shits and giggles. Or said nothing about it at all! But by writing out precisely why (in a very legally damning way) on your website, you’ve completely exposed yourself to litigation. You’re pointing the proverbial loaded gun at your face. And as far as consequences go, facing down a vindictive or irrational former employer in court is pretty close to that metaphor.

Re: I built Excel for Uber and they ditched it

#549

Post by diogenes4 »

phendrenad2 wrote: post #543
diogenes4 wrote: post #533

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You're missing a huge part of this: The "competition" you think you're referring to had, you know, actual rules This is, of course, false.

Competition has no rules? Jury awards ZeniMax $500 million in Oculus VR lawsuit? I guess they made up some rules, no?

well, the us only pretends to like free market politics. in reality rich dickwads like regulation just fine, namely in the form of protecting the value of their property.

Re: I built Excel for Uber and they ditched it

#550

Post by diogenes4 »

rfrey wrote: post #383
diogenes4 wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People in the US just don't understand the level of economic and industrial espionage that happens in China on a daily basis. Back in my day this was called "competition" and worked for the consumer, not against them. I find the espionage factor to be theatrical hogwash trotted out by the corporate types. We americans love competition, right? Stfu and compete.

When exactly was this "day" when industrial espionage was legal?

It is legal. The us has no power over china's ip. the closest you're going to get to illegal is "violates a trade agreement", and what's the us gonna do, invade china? the cope levels here are extreme.
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