On Sep 24, 2008, at 6:12 PM, Scott Ribe wrote:
the sort of person who
thinks re-using someone else's undocumented code is easier than
writing it from scratch is probably not going to be able to learn
the code
via debugging tools.
There are two distinct extremes here, and I think most people on the
list are more familiar with the former.
The first is where you build a big system/application, and any code
you do go out and get from the OSS community or by stealing or
whatever just does some small function within your overall
architecture. Maintainability of any acquired code is important here.
The second is where you release a product that is never updated, and
designed for a specific purpose. If somebody else can produce an
equivalent product without the associated development time, even
without any understanding, through use of theft, it can bring down the
original business. Maintainability does NOT matter here because the
dodgy competitor only cares to produce something functionally
equivalent, not to have something maintainable.
Realistically, it's a pretty stupid long-term decision to use acquired
code and screw over the original business, because then once you've
killed the competitor or lost the ability to steal more, you no longer
have the ability to keep up with customer demand, but many businesses
don't care about the long-term so much as a quick buck, unfortunately.
Cheers,
--
Casey Allen Shobe
Database Architect, The Berkeley Electronic Press
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