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I'm probably gonna get downvoted, but now I'm quite sure that web really IS public domain. We just have to state it explicitly. From now on gonna use public domain license on any public work I produce. Who's with me?


Well, there's copyright's all over the web, and anything without it is common law'ed into being copyrighted - so no.

Personally, I go by the mantra of "if you post it, anyone can use it how they like".

Sure, Zed is within his legal rights to ask for this, but I'm surprised no one is viewing this from the angle of the Ruby community losing a (possibly) valuable resource because "Zed's brand" has to be maintained... Seems like everyone is so sensitive about the sanctity of their ideas.


As linked elsewhere: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1739890

Copy & paste probably won't make a useful Ruby book.

"Seems like everyone is so sensitive about the sanctity of their ideas."

That's the pain of dealing with other human beings as if they are human beings and not just web sites or github repositories.


My argument isn't that this Ruby version is so compelling it deserves to exist. I think restricting creativity "because I made it" is a stupid reason. Maybe others would have (are?) making useful "X The Hard Way" books stop because of this. I don't see what the benefit of him restricting it is.




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