I woke this morning to see a headline on WeGotServed about a new twitter Add-In for Windows Home Server. As I wrote the popular @WHSTweet Add-In (I think it was the first twitter add-in, but I may be mistaken) I was interested, so I clicked over to read more.
When I got there, I saw a screen shot that looks very familiar. At first I thought it was another review of my @WHSTweet, until I noticed the Remote Control tab. I soon realized that I was not looking at a screen shot of @WHSTweet, but another add-in all together. If you look at the two side-by-side (see above), you will see that the Settings tab is a near word-for-word, feature-for-feature blatant rip off of my UI design! Actually, before I moved things around to accommodate longer words in other languages like French and German, it was a near pixel for pixel match!
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that's the case, then KyleWWWW (listed as the "author" of WHS Twit Stat) must love me!
I don't mind that someone else is writing a twitter Add-In for Windows Home Server. That's not the point. But come on! If you're going to rip off someone's UI, at least fix their typo. I haven't looked at the code yet to see if it's all mine too. Actually, I'm not sure I want to at this point. I have more important things to do. If KyleWWWW wants to rip off my code as well, I don't think I have the energy to stop him.
Hold on a second… What is that I see on the @WHSTweet About tab? A copyright notice? Hmmm…
(Note: The released version of @WHSTweet does not have remote control. That is slated for version 2 as I said in my comments on this blog).
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20 comments:
Hi Donavon,
Welcome to my world... A user named Stewart Fisher over on the We Got Served forums did the EXACT same thing to me a few months ago with my WHS Outlook add-in (he called his rip off add-in "Outlook for WHS" – how original is that!).
We Got Served seems all too happy to promote add-in rip offs and copycat developers on their web site. I ended up being the "bad guy" in it all when it happened to me, and so in the end, I decided to completely dump We Got Served. It's bad enough that developers out there have the audacity to release blatant rip offs of another developer’s hard work, but it is completely shameful when an entire community like We Got Served promotes the author's actions (and actually praises them for doing so).
I asked Terry Walsh (owner of We got Served) to remove all traces of my WHS Outlook program from his web site as I didn't want anything to do with a site that condones the work of "rip off" add-in developers. If you would like to read all the gory details of what happened to me (and have a good laugh while doing so), then you can check it out for yourself here:
http://www.wegotserved.com/2009/03/27/add-in-outlook-for-whs
I've since moved on to a MUCH better WHS community named HomeServerLand.com. The owner of that site (Alexander Kent) is a WHS add-in developer himself and would never allow such shameful practices to take place on his site. Also, I'd like to give a big Kudos to Philip Churchill (owner of mswhs.com) as he stood by me and removed all mention of the rip off author's add-in when I pointed it out to him.
These are the types of WHS communities that end users need to support (i.e. those that support the developers). Shame on the WHS Twit Stat author, but most of all, shame on Terry Walsh and the We Got Served community for supporting his efforts!
Good luck and keep up the great work with Home Server Hacks and @WHSTweet!
-- Mike Craven (The Office Maven)
Totally lame, Donavon. I went over to WGS and they've yanked it off the site. I found the forum thread you posted your picture on and it's been followed up with something of a mea culpa from Terry.
Mike is exactly why I told you to take the high road on Twitter, Donavon. Mike is upset because he's been charging for something that someone else was able to duplicate/improve upon and offer free. His cash cow went dry and he threatened to sue.
Since your not charging for @WHSTweet, what is this guy taking from you? Everyone knows what you've done. If all he can do is copy you, he's always going to be one step behind you. You'll be the innovator and him the duplicator. His reputation has already been destroyed by sheer fact that you called him out and revealed him for what he is.
My advice, leave it alone. You have a great reputation in this community and throwing around threats of a lawsuit filed is a surefire way to end up looking like a whiner.
I know several people who were turned off by Mike's antics and decided to not buy his products as a result. You're better than that.
So, here's what happened.
Yesterday morning I checked out WGS forums and saw that the guys had posted a request for beta testers for the add-in. I don't actually use Donavon's add-in, so at that point didn't spot how similar the screen shot he'd posted was to @WHSTweet.
We usually try to support all developers out with a bit of coverage on the site, so I bashed out a quick post pointing people to the forum.
A couple of hours later, Donavon pinged me on Twitter and pointed me over to this post. When you look at the side by side comparison, it's clear that there are significant similarities between the dialog boxes.
So I took the decision to remove the blog post. End of story.
I'm not going to comment on Mike's post above, other than to say that WGS has always tried to support all add-in developers by raising awareness of the add-ins that are available.
That's part of trying to bring more people into the WHS community because it's such a great product. I really hope that that awareness and support encourages as many developers as possible into the ecosystem to raise the number of add-ins available, and their quality.
If, at any point there is a legal issue regarding copyright or other IP infringement, then that needs to be dealt with between developers. They are the individuals responsible for the original IP and its infringement.
That is the seocond time that i have heared from something like that. Also i have heared that someone from germany has started a research via his lawyers. I will try to get contact with that person to know more. That here is clear i think. I there someone or a little group that do very strange things? I think also that every admin on every windows home server community page must have more then one eye on that things like that.
Next point... i think in the future you better don't talk about news and updates about add-ins. But when we start with that we will kill the community. But the admins on every WHS page has the power to delete all infos about such posts, i think. OK we have to get the info...which one was the first one, but that is very easy or not!?
But Terry every time these things are posted over WGS. I say 'NOT' that you are involved, but i think that is something where you must have more then one eye on it. You are the owner of that page and then you are involved in that process. So i think you and every owner of a WHS site have to distance oneself from things like that. What is done from Terry here on that page. He has removed the blog post. Have you also banned the author??? Owners who want do that, makes here page more public, i think (my personal meaning).
@Dusty - I'm over this. Like I said, if KyleWWWW is going to steal my code, all I can do it point it out. I appreciate your comments.
@Terry - Thx for removing the post. I welcome more developers in the WHS community. Which is why I've started my WHS Coding Series, to share development ideas and encourage add-in development. Don't forget @WHSTweet came to be as a result of my interest in the Windows Home Server Technical Library
@Alexander Kent - Who are you and why are you posing as Alexander Kent? I heard from the *real* Alexander Kent and he said that he did NOT make a post here and then delete it.
@Donavan West - Is the IP address logged with the post? Then there is no problem to inform his provider about that...
I have checked what stands behind the name Alexander Kent from the post here: http://www.blogger.com/profile/04106236075588469992
Google is informed now and will starting research.
This is a shame, but I'm glad to see that you're taking the high road, as well as preserving your own good reputation by refraining from lashing out at the WHS community at large.
FWIW, I enjoy your WHS Twitter add-in, and thank you!
I consider the case closed. Terry did his part by taking it off the front page (and I didn't even have to ask).
This will definitely not keep me from contributing to the WHS community as a whole. I will continue to write add-ins (as if one add-in somehow makes me a "developer") and blog about interesting DIY WHS builds.
What's that they say about "one bad apple"? :)
Get over it. Welcome to plant earth. Now post something new!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope you will still continue to develop your (original) WHS Tweet.. Looking forward to future updates! :)
are you there
Can we move on? I love this site but since the great rip off happened, which by the way i agree with you and feel your anger, there have no new posts in a month. You're way better than this Donovan...let's go! :)
I find it very interesting that Terry would remove the Twitter addin right away without any proof, meanwhile the Twitter code is all over the net and the GUI looked similar but ONLY similar and it was not identical!
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/WindowsHomeServerTwitterNotificationPlugin.aspx
These clowns are nothing but big arrogant bullies and not real experts to begin with. A WGS moderator told me to install Active Directory which corrupted my WHS and after I called Microsoft support I found out that AD was not supported. AD on the WHS causes a wide range of problems. I pointed this out to the moderator and received a very harsh and flaming response.
These guys are very unprofessional but Donavon you are better than this.
So, I guess this site is dead?
Second Valued. Removing from my RSS feeds I suppose. Too bad, I liked what you had to say when you said it Donavon.
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