4 ms·

This is not a site full of smart people submitting and discussing smart things. This is a site where someone says 'stealing' and someone else patiently points

This is not a site full of smart people submitting and discussing smart things. This is a site where someone says 'stealing' and someone else patiently points out that piracy is not stealing because bla bla bla YAWN.

eternalban 14y ago
A mullah, a scholar of Arabic Grammar, once fell into a filthy ditch and couldn't climb out. He waited for a while until someone came by. The passerby extended his hand and said "Your hand. Give me!" The mullah angrily told him "Move along. You are not one of our people!" Some more hours passed while the scholar stood knee deep in foul matter, until another man passed by. He said to him "Here my hand. Take!" Again, the scholar glared "Move along! You are not one of us!" So this went on for few hours until, finally, the scholar's nephew happened to pass by and saw his uncle in that filthy ditch. He cried out "O dear uncle! Here, take my hand!". The scholar said, "Yes. You are one of us!" and reach[ed] out to his nephew. But the nephew was weak and he too fell in the hole. [As related by Mowlana Shamsud'din Tabrizi.]
- eternalban 14y ago
  > [As related by Mowlana Shamsud'din Tabrizi.] This needs to be corrected. The story is called the "blind grammarian" and naturally far more robust in the original by Shams (as translated into English) than my recollection above. There is also a second part to it that has been omitted.
  - TheSOB88 14y ago
    Hahaha, if only I could tell whether this is irony or genuine.
NinetyNine 14y ago
Piracy isn't stealing; it's copyright infringement and often a contract violation. Using metaphors for complicated legal issues is not a good way to approach things.
- hollerith 14y ago
  Are you aware that you are doing exactly what grandparent is complaining about?
  - askar_yu 14y ago
    sarcasm...?
    - hollerith 14y ago
      I am not sure what you are asking. My comment was not intended as sarcasm, nor was I asserting sarcasm in comments by others.
- batista 14y ago
  And this argument has been repeated endlessly. I wont question if it's true or false. But the mere repetition makes what the grandparent says true: this is not a site full of smart people. Or at least: this is not a site full of smart people _above_ repeating for the nth time the same tired internet flames.
  - morsch 14y ago
    Smart people keep having the same tired arguments for the nth time for the past 2500 years. That's just the result the result of those question being fundamental and difficult to answer objectively. The piracy thing seems like a silly semantic issue on the face of it but the semantics strike at the heart of the issue.
  - tripzilch 14y ago
    > And this argument has been repeated endlessly. And that is why we need to broaden software patent laws to also include Internet arguments: patent trolling to counter actual trolling. (BRB, patenting this idea)

eternalban 14y ago

A mullah, a scholar of Arabic Grammar, once fell into a filthy ditch and couldn't climb out. He waited for a while until someone came by. The passerby extended his hand and said "Your hand. Give me!" The mullah angrily told him "Move along. You are not one of our people!" Some more hours passed while the scholar stood knee deep in foul matter, until another man passed by. He said to him "Here my hand. Take!" Again, the scholar glared "Move along! You are not one of us!" So this went on for few hours until, finally, the scholar's nephew happened to pass by and saw his uncle in that filthy ditch. He cried out "O dear uncle! Here, take my hand!". The scholar said, "Yes. You are one of us!" and reach[ed] out to his nephew. But the nephew was weak and he too fell in the hole. [As related by Mowlana Shamsud'din Tabrizi.]

eternalban 14y ago
> [As related by Mowlana Shamsud'din Tabrizi.] This needs to be corrected. The story is called the "blind grammarian" and naturally far more robust in the original by Shams (as translated into English) than my recollection above. There is also a second part to it that has been omitted.
- TheSOB88 14y ago
  Hahaha, if only I could tell whether this is irony or genuine.

NinetyNine 14y ago

Piracy isn't stealing; it's copyright infringement and often a contract violation. Using metaphors for complicated legal issues is not a good way to approach things.

hollerith 14y ago
Are you aware that you are doing exactly what grandparent is complaining about?
- askar_yu 14y ago
  sarcasm...?
  - hollerith 14y ago
    I am not sure what you are asking. My comment was not intended as sarcasm, nor was I asserting sarcasm in comments by others.
batista 14y ago
And this argument has been repeated endlessly. I wont question if it's true or false. But the mere repetition makes what the grandparent says true: this is not a site full of smart people. Or at least: this is not a site full of smart people _above_ repeating for the nth time the same tired internet flames.
- morsch 14y ago
  Smart people keep having the same tired arguments for the nth time for the past 2500 years. That's just the result the result of those question being fundamental and difficult to answer objectively. The piracy thing seems like a silly semantic issue on the face of it but the semantics strike at the heart of the issue.
- tripzilch 14y ago
  > And this argument has been repeated endlessly. And that is why we need to broaden software patent laws to also include Internet arguments: patent trolling to counter actual trolling. (BRB, patenting this idea)