Comment by playpause
5 years ago
Even if Repl.it rightly felt it was a breach of their IP, the CEO could have assumed good faith, explained his concerns kindly, and politely requested the project be taken down. The interesting thing is that he seemingly panicked, resorted to legal threats almost immediately, and even stooped to warning the kid that they have deep pockets. It’s like something you’d expect from 90s Microsoft, just more scrappy and trashy. And this is Repl.it, a company where you’d imagine OSS community relations would be a big deal.
I agree the interaction could have gone more smoothly. I also still think Repl.it and Amjad have reasonable viewpoints. I didn't see a panicky or instant legal threat reply from the emails. I saw an email pointing out the copying issue clearly, then a strong and lengthy pushback email from Riju author, and _then_ a reply about lawyers. The "I did nothing wrong" email from Riju author probably seemed benign, but seemed like strong pushback from Amjad.
As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I saw a complete jackass reaction that tarnishes the reputation of repl.it.