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Sothink Violated the FlashGot GPL and Stole Code
ShineTheLight sends in news of two Firefox plug-ins: FlashGot, the original, and Sothink, the GPL-violating come-lately. "People at Sothink decided to violate the GPL by stealing a piece of core code from FlashGot and using it without even the decency of covering their tracks. It is an exact copy of a previous version of FlashGot. This deception came to light when users reported to the FlashGot support forum that their software was not working right. Some digging led to the discovery that the older module that Sothink stole and used verbatim was overriding the more recent engine on the machines of those who had both installed and it was causing the issue. It has been reported to AMO and the FlashGot developer is aware of it. The Sothink people have completely ignored and been silent on the subject. This is why most good programmers will stop contributing to the global community because there are those who will steal their work, pass it off as their own, never acknowledge or give credit, and then shamefully stick their head in the sand and ignore the consequences." The three most recent reviews of Sothink point out this plug-in's dishonest nature. A number of earlier, one-line, 5-star reviews — expressed in a similar style — sound suspiciously like astroturfing.
I love the double-standard so much. Piracy is fine but GPL violations ? OH GOD STOP THE PRESSES. "Yes but you see, it is not the same... Sothink as a company is making money off it." Yeah, maybe. In most case of GPL violations tough, the percentage of the new work work in violation is so small as to be insignificant. And still, if it were another freeware app, people would still complain and scream "TRIAL !" I wonder what the copyright abolitionist would say when copyright is abolished and the GPL stops to be enforceable... Oh well.
Yes, well done you found us all out. Obviously the user group of slashdot is a borg think tank which all hold the same view point. It's obvious that the people who think it's ok to download propitiatory software are the same people that are GNU warriors. Oh wait, that makes no sense now does it? Why would someone who uses free software download windows illegally?
I have a different theory. You're a fucking idiot.
Mine comes from the 1918 Oxford English dictionary. You are not the first nor will you be the last to abuse the actual definition of the word. Or failing to understand (as does the author of that supposed dictionary) what an aphorism or a colloquialism is.