Comment by anthk
3 days ago
Wine tells me otherwise from reimplementations.
Also, https://osgameclones.com
Otter Browser it's pretty much inspired from Opera 12 too.
And, for a much better example, XMMS vs WinAMP 2/3, virtually the exact same interface, with skins support.
GNU/Linux itself clones the Unix interface, API and ABI. And so did the BSD's.
Another example, Lesstif when Motif was propietary. Same API, and you could run lots of stuff written for Motif under LessTif. Now libre Motif superseded it around a decade ago.
What the music and movie industry did and does, in regards to IP, is the counter-example.
This is software, not media. Different laws apply. Unix and GNU mirrored 1:1 (and extended) a commercial, propietary OS (different Unix flavours). With FVWM + LessTif + gcc you basically had a reimplemented Unix workstation at home.
Bash, GCC, *utils, X.org, LessTif, ZIP vs PKZIP...
Also, every libre Smalltalk IDE out there had the virtual UI as the propietary ones.
Also, FreeDOS in the 90's and DOSEmu. Same virtual interface and usage.
Law applies to software too. Contract law (EULA) and copyright are applicable. Many EULAs have statements on reverse engineering. Another aspect of this is unfair competition or competing directly against the product the offending software was copied from.
Violations of the EULA or copyright can result in having to fight it out in court. It's a matter of if it will be taken to court (as little guys may not have the time or lawyers) or can be that both parties have decided on some type of agreement.
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