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Replit used legal threats to kill my open-source project

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Re: Replit used legal threats to kill my open-source project

#801

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This explains a lot of why he's so threatened by this random POC. He's projecting onto the author the exact thing that he did.

I mean... of course it is. Someone could (and likely is) building a better Repl.it with Nix and Theia. It's fucking flabbergasting to me that everyone in this thread acts like Repl.it is some magical product. And that's not even accounting for the half-dozen other production-quality VS-Code-in-browser projects. Sorry, it's just not a unique space. Not surprising at an that an egostistic founder isn't handling it well…

Indeed, there are a lot of options out there https://github.com/styfle/awesome-online-ide

Re: Replit used legal threats to kill my open-source project

#802
post #781

> we’re also excited to announce one of the first (of many!) projects that Amjad has worked on with us: Codecademy Labs, the easiest way to play with JavaScript, Ruby, and Python online I'll just leave this here so we can all bask in the insane hypocrisy of this entire episode. https://www.codecademy.com/resources/blog/amjad-joins-codeca... Edit: See Amjad's response below – seems Repl.it may have pre-dated this hiri…

pretty weird/low class move to build a free clone of the product you just worked on. pretty petty decision to threaten to sue your former intern for his weird move. also, threatening someone with money is a pretty surefire way to look like an asshole. similarly petty decision to spend hours documenting everything to post on HN and start throwing mud in public. everyone seems well within their legal rights but ethical…

> similarly petty decision to spend hours documenting everything to post on HN and start throwing mud in public.

As someone else pointed out earlier in the thread, he kinda asked for it:

> It is unethical and would be obviously so to outside observers as well. Feel free to consult your mentors or people with more experience than you in the industry.

Seems like outside observers mostly don't agree.

Re: Replit used legal threats to kill my open-source project

#803

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“ Hey everyone, I want to apologize for the inappropriate use of power here. While I do believe there is an ethical line that was crossed here, I should have called him to understand his point of view and work it out. Which is what I'll try to do now, and see if we can get his project back up again. I'm sorry Radon. The lesson for me here is to internalize how I'm no longer the struggling kid from Jordan fighting for…

> You still are saying the intern is wrong, which isn’t good. That’s a good thing. That’s what happens when you have integrity. There is no reason to change his position on the subject of ex-employees making clones of the product.

Cloning your previous employer's product doesn't seem illegal in California given the limitations on NDAs and very strong limitations on non-competes. Assuming no trade secrets or copyrighted information was used which would be easy to verify in an open source project. Merely having information about a company's internals in your head does not make it illegal to work for or start competitors.

Re: Replit used legal threats to kill my open-source project

#806
post #802
post #781

Earlier quoted context omitted.

pretty weird/low class move to build a free clone of the product you just worked on. pretty petty decision to threaten to sue your former intern for his weird move. also, threatening someone with money is a pretty surefire way to look like an asshole. similarly petty decision to spend hours documenting everything to post on HN and start throwing mud in public. everyone seems well within their legal rights but ethical…

> similarly petty decision to spend hours documenting everything to post on HN and start throwing mud in public. As someone else pointed out earlier in the thread, he kinda asked for it: > It is unethical and would be obviously so to outside observers as well. Feel free to consult your mentors or people with more experience than you in the industry. Seems like outside observers mostly don't agree.

agree the ceo was pretty arrogant but you can still be petty if someone is asking for it.

Re: Replit used legal threats to kill my open-source project

#808

Earlier quoted context omitted.

amasad is a regular HN'er who's very active in all posts related to repl.it. Until, curiously enough, today... My guess is, his "top lawyers" and other advisors gave him instructions which amounted to - in layman's terms - "Dude, STFU." Edit: disregard, he did show up and start commenting here.

He's just avoiding it. He retweeted this: https://twitter.com/pnegahdar/status/1402018604233732098 And tweeted this: https://twitter.com/amasad/status/1401957368510906369

So based on those tweets, I suspect the following scenario is a possibility, or was perceived as a possibility by Amjad:

Radon interned at repl.it and asked a lot of questions. To be clear, asking a lot of questions is a good thing for career development in that it results in learning a ton, and typically something you definitely want your full-time employees to do, but not necessarily what you're expecting from an internship/temp worker arrangement.

Amjad apparently had some awareness of Radon being a particularly curious intern. Again, nothing wrong with that!

Radon then published an open-source hobby project which seemed to build on many of the teachings from repl.it. Based on what we can see of the discussion, it's likely that Radon wouldn't have had the exposure to the problem domain in order to build the solution he did, as fast as he did, had he not spent time at repl.it and asked a lot of questions.

Radon then showed this to Amjad, and as all of the above dawned on Amjad, he reacted incredibly poorly. The analogy he's using in his tweets ("someone goes into your house and steals from you, even if it's not material") suggests he's likening it to inviting a friend over to a dinner party at your mansion, having the guest ask a bunch of questions about the design, excuse themselves to use the restroom, and poke around in all the closets along the way. Next week they invite you over to the 1-bedroom flat that they regularly livestream from, and you see they've applied lessons they learned while asking questions and wandering around your place, to their interior design.

You don't feel robbed, but you may certainly feel a bit slighted. If you're a private person you might be a bit miffed about how your years of hard work has been distilled into something more spartan and put on display for others to copy.

Even if I think Amjad's response was quite over the top, I do think it's fair to be a bit surprised to learn that your guest spent a significant portion of their visit poking around in your closets instead of focusing on the dinner company. In the context of an internship, it comes across as mildly jarring to point out that you were actually just after interior design lessons rather than enjoying dinner for the sake of dinner.

I'm not proposing this is in reality close to what happened; Radon seems highly motivated and prolific, and was probably an amazing intern. I also don't think he did anything legally in the wrong, even if unconventional and potentially offensive.

Amjad's reaction was totally inappropriate, but based on his tweets there is at least some reason to the rhyme.

Re: Replit used legal threats to kill my open-source project

#810
post #757

Hey everyone, I want to apologize for the inappropriate use of power here. While I do believe there is an ethical line that was crossed here, I should have called him to understand his point of view and work it out. Which is what I'll try to do now, and see if we can get his project back up again. I'm sorry Radon. The lesson for me here is to internalize how I'm no longer the struggling kid from Jordan fighting for m…

The lesson here is to ask people for advice before writing public statements (for one), and before threatening with lawsuits in private communication. 1) You apologize, but basically the other person did something wrong? 2) You invoke sympathy for being a "struggling kid from Jordan fighting for more than a decade to build something" ; so what? So now you're the victim? Your reaction to all of this is comedy gold. Hi…

>The lesson here is

The lesson here is never apologize on the internet because that'll be thrown back in your face.

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