Well...Github specifically has tools that allow people to fork stuff and then request feature merges - I have submitted fixes and features to various pieces of

Well...Github specifically has tools that allow people to fork stuff and then request feature merges - I have submitted fixes and features to various pieces of software this way, and I find it quite convenient for both parties: the original author only needs to review the code (which, I admit, is nontrivial quite in itself) and approve the merge. Although this is, technologically, akin to a project fork, it doesn't have the emotional baggage attached to "well I think that I'll do better than the original", it's merely a branch not pretending to replace the main thing. As for people passing off things as their own - yes, "that's why we can't have nice things," as the internet saying goes; and I know how infuriating that is. I don't know what could be done about this, alas.