4 ms·

Is this the same Replit who used legal threats to shut down an open source project made by an intern after they left[1]? I don't know how anyone can in good con

by johnfn 4y ago

Is this the same Replit who used legal threats to shut down an open source project made by an intern after they left[1]? I don't know how anyone can in good conscience support this company. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27424195 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27424195

shepherdjerred 4y ago
Which organizations do you support whose worst action was intimidating and intern?
- paulryanrogers 4y ago
  What bearing does that have here? We all make judgement calls on incomplete information. Doesn't mean we should overlook this situation when considering this app.
ctvo 4y ago
I haven’t forgotten either. The CEO bullied someone weaker because they thought they could get away with it. Why would you join a “community” of learners led by someone like that?
rayhanadev 4y ago
Well the open source project did actually use similar Replit internals, I don't even work for Replit but with a lot of poking at their previous APIs and their own open source softwares I was able to figure that out. TBH that whole ordeal felt like a bar brawl between and employer and a fired employee, though. Neither handled the situation correctly and both were in the wrong.
- girvo 4y ago
  > both were in the wrong Alright, let's assume that's true for a moment, for sake of argument. One of the parties we're talking about has massively more power than the other, so I'm inclined to have higher standards for them than that of an intern.
  - LMYahooTFY 4y ago
    How would you say this affects the ethics of each person's actions? Also, it's worth noting that the replit founder issued a pretty substantial mea culpa, and explicitly let Radon put the project back up. It didn't seem like Radon made much of a concession at all, and it's not obvious to me that he was totally in the right.
  - rayhanadev 4y ago
    And in that you are correct! :) I 100% agree that there were better ways for Amjad to have handled that. That being said Radon did copy some Replit internal design choices for Riju, which was completely overlooked because he was able to play off as the weaker individual. I'm sure in most other situations open-sourcing the work of another company, even if its something you designed as an intern, is not ethical in any case. Furthermore, Radon did not make any concession to the incident. He went on with life, after the incident and continues to portray Replit as the villain with references to the blog post and the way it was written to incriminate, not objectively oversee the problem. In short, he used pathos to play y'all. Meanwhile Amjad apologized _extensively_ for his actions and allowed Riju to continue, despite using what was previously (not anymore) Replit's internal design. In the world of OSS people love the underdog and hate "big tech", when there's more gray area that could be explored. Not that this is a defense of Amjad or an attack on Radon, but there's more to this story that needs to be seen in order to get the bigger picture :).
adenozine 4y ago
This is like trying to cancel a homeowner because they spoke rudely to a home invader. He was out of line, for sure, but he was not wrong, from what I read about the situation. I’ve seen replit used in classroom settings both before and after that kerfuffle and it’s an extraordinary product., imho. If I were a teacher, I’d probably use it.
- johnfn 4y ago
  You’re comparing an open source repo to a home invasion? My god man, you must realize that those aren’t even close to the same magnitude. Maybe more like walking within 10 miles of a house - but that house is actually a heavily fortified castle with trebuchets.
- eloisius 4y ago
  A home invasion is a pretty bad analogy for someone that created a competing project in their own time after working for them. There was never any plausible allegation that the intern stole their IP as I remember.
matheusmoreira 4y ago
I haven't forgotten that but I still respect their effort here. I think we really need a good app to write code on mobile devices so that they aren't merely consumer devices. This Replit app seems to be well polished but I don't like that it needs an account. I opened the app and the first thing I saw was a sign up screen. I expected to see a programming language picker or text editor.

by johnfn 4y ago

shepherdjerred 4y ago

Which organizations do you support whose worst action was intimidating and intern?

paulryanrogers 4y ago
What bearing does that have here? We all make judgement calls on incomplete information. Doesn't mean we should overlook this situation when considering this app.

ctvo 4y ago

I haven’t forgotten either. The CEO bullied someone weaker because they thought they could get away with it. Why would you join a “community” of learners led by someone like that?

rayhanadev 4y ago

Well the open source project did actually use similar Replit internals, I don't even work for Replit but with a lot of poking at their previous APIs and their own open source softwares I was able to figure that out. TBH that whole ordeal felt like a bar brawl between and employer and a fired employee, though. Neither handled the situation correctly and both were in the wrong.

girvo 4y ago
> both were in the wrong Alright, let's assume that's true for a moment, for sake of argument. One of the parties we're talking about has massively more power than the other, so I'm inclined to have higher standards for them than that of an intern.
- LMYahooTFY 4y ago
  How would you say this affects the ethics of each person's actions? Also, it's worth noting that the replit founder issued a pretty substantial mea culpa, and explicitly let Radon put the project back up. It didn't seem like Radon made much of a concession at all, and it's not obvious to me that he was totally in the right.
- rayhanadev 4y ago
  And in that you are correct! :) I 100% agree that there were better ways for Amjad to have handled that. That being said Radon did copy some Replit internal design choices for Riju, which was completely overlooked because he was able to play off as the weaker individual. I'm sure in most other situations open-sourcing the work of another company, even if its something you designed as an intern, is not ethical in any case. Furthermore, Radon did not make any concession to the incident. He went on with life, after the incident and continues to portray Replit as the villain with references to the blog post and the way it was written to incriminate, not objectively oversee the problem. In short, he used pathos to play y'all. Meanwhile Amjad apologized _extensively_ for his actions and allowed Riju to continue, despite using what was previously (not anymore) Replit's internal design. In the world of OSS people love the underdog and hate "big tech", when there's more gray area that could be explored. Not that this is a defense of Amjad or an attack on Radon, but there's more to this story that needs to be seen in order to get the bigger picture :).

adenozine 4y ago

This is like trying to cancel a homeowner because they spoke rudely to a home invader. He was out of line, for sure, but he was not wrong, from what I read about the situation. I’ve seen replit used in classroom settings both before and after that kerfuffle and it’s an extraordinary product., imho. If I were a teacher, I’d probably use it.

johnfn 4y ago
You’re comparing an open source repo to a home invasion? My god man, you must realize that those aren’t even close to the same magnitude. Maybe more like walking within 10 miles of a house - but that house is actually a heavily fortified castle with trebuchets.
eloisius 4y ago
A home invasion is a pretty bad analogy for someone that created a competing project in their own time after working for them. There was never any plausible allegation that the intern stole their IP as I remember.

matheusmoreira 4y ago

I haven't forgotten that but I still respect their effort here. I think we really need a good app to write code on mobile devices so that they aren't merely consumer devices. This Replit app seems to be well polished but I don't like that it needs an account. I opened the app and the first thing I saw was a sign up screen. I expected to see a programming language picker or text editor.