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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

#931

Post by gtyras2mrs »

llaolleh wrote: post #866

This is a PR disaster. It's really hard to put a finger on who is in the wrong, because both the former intern(FI) and CEO screwed up. Out of so many things to build that could be fun, it's wrong to build something that you worked on, where a really good engineer/founder took you under their wings, taught you a ton. To take that and open source the secret sauce of a fragile startup in a competitive market... that's w…

> To take that and open source the secret sauce of a fragile startup in a competitive market..

i think that's absolute bollocks.

Replit is not the first to pioneer running code online nor is the open-source project the secret sauce.

The open-source project seems to be a toy he built for satisfying his own curiosity, not scalable beyond a single-server. Something that the guy admits can be brought down by a fork bomb. it has no user-accounts, no sharing features, no persistance -- nothing that makes it the "secret sauce".

To quote the blog,

>Replit’s core value proposition isn’t letting you run code online (you can do this in dozens of places for free), it’s the features they offer on top of running code.

Running code online is not a novel idea that Replit came up with. It's the rest that made it appealing.

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

#933

Post by Dah00n »

macspoofing wrote: post #810
Wxc2jjJmST9XWWL wrote: post #767

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Especially when you say you are sorry but do not mean it. There's no BUT in an apology but there's a BUT in his apology, sooo...

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

#934

Post by dom96 »

gorgoiler wrote: post #911

Replit isn’t just about the tech. It’s about scale and marketing. They have to protect both of these if they want to be the place to go for online coding. Sure, you can plug Monaco into some backend in a weekend. Good for you. Can you support 100,000x active-last-minute on the same platform? Can you build a brand that means you even have to be able to handle 100k ALM? There are better ways Amjad could’ve handled this…

It sounds like you are speaking to the author. I think it’s obvious they know how to do marketing (see how popular their blog post is proving). Scaling a platform to 100,000 isn’t hard, especially with millions in funding.

HN isn’t odd at all. Replit is YC funded after all.

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

#935

Post by rurabe »

praptak wrote: post #877
rurabe wrote: 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…

Even if we agree there's symmetry in behavior (which is a big 'if'), one of the actors is an intern and the second one has millions in funding. The latter has thus much more potential to do harm.

yeah i mean same argument about why they shot harambe because some kid wanted to climb the fence into the gorilla exhibit.

i actually agree that corporations have too much power versus individuals in society. but it's a bit much to jump into the gorilla exhibit and then write a clickbait post about whether it was unethical.

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

#936

Post by kecupochren »

throwaway928301 wrote: post #529

I interviewed for a job at repl.it a while ago. At the very beginning of the interview process I wanted to make sure that he would be ok with my rate (120k) and that we're on the same page, because coding interviews can be time consuming. After the interview process, he offered a contract-to-hire and low-balled at less than half of what we discussed at the start of the interview process, and then retracted the offer…

Less than half? lol. Thanks for sharing

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

#937

Post by rurabe »

neolog wrote: post #883
rurabe wrote: 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…

> pretty weird/low class move to build a free clone of the product you just worked on It's extremely common to do that. Where do you think all this industrial open source software comes from? People work on a product, then they leave the company and want access to a similar tool. Happens all the time.

i mean thats actually fine, i think it's the copying + victimization thats irking me

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

#938

Post by rurabe »

k5z wrote: post #882
rurabe wrote: 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…

Though there’s always that thought that a situation like this undoubtedly makes for a fantastic viral marketing campaign…

i mean he doesn't seem like he's gonna launch this as a startup so cynically why else would he go to all the trouble?

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

#939

Post by jedwhite »

This made me think of a post by Philip Kaplan (Pud) called 'Fucking Sue Me" back in 2011, which was controversial at the time.

The original post is long-gone, but there are a few copies out there [1], and there was a HN thread at the time [2].

He runs DistroKid now. He famously (infamously?) created the site Fucked Company way-back-when chronicling the dotcom bust [3].

[1] https://archive.vn/QHkz8

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15155068

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fucked_Company

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