[stravid]

Copying my comment from dcurtis thread:

You say "In fact, it goes against the very ethos of Hacker News.", do you think your action aligns with the "ethos of Hacker News"? Do you think it's okay to rip-off something just because you think it shouldn't be invite only?

[masklinn]

Considering https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3435416

Yes?

[bryanbibat]

And considering Hacker News is based off Reddit...

[stravid]

There is a difference between taking an idea and a design. Put the versions next to each other and tell me they don't look like the same.

[masklinn]

> There is a difference between taking an idea and a design.

When the idea is the design (as is the case with visitor.js), no there is not. In both cases, it's taking and reimplementing wholesale (but from scratch) the closed product into an open-source one.

[nwienert]

Never said the motivation was because it was invite-only, I just wanted something similar so I created it. I've modified it somewhat, is it still a "rip-off"? Let me know how much more I should modify it before it isn't a "rip-off".

[stravid]

If you look at both versions it should be clear what I mean with rip-off. I don't care if you implement the "ideas panel" or whatever yourself.

But if I you take the design and make your version look the same, then it's a rip-off. Yes, you modified it. But please put both versions next to each other and tell me they don't look like each other. As long as you don't have an original design it's a rip-off for me.

[davidw]

I think you should aim for this kind of look to make it clear that you're doing something different:

http://bobcargill.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/geocities-izer...