On 1/24/06, James Britt <james_b / neurogami.com> wrote:
> simonh wrote:
> > Couldn't post a reply on Daves site so thought i'd post one here. Here
> > is post:
> >
> > http://blogs.pragprog.com/cgi-bin/pragdave.cgi/Random/Imitation.rdoc
> >
> > I think this is happening a lot. 37signals has been ripped off
> > according to DHH (I believe), rails has inspired many 'best ever, just
> > what you were looking for' web frameworks. I think it is a fact of
> > life. Selection of the Fittest in action. The unworthy will surely
> > perish as they always do.
>
> How many people or companies create anything out of thin air?  How much
> is simply the influence of the extant culture and available technology,
> and how much is raw innovation? When does influence become "ripping off"?
>
> If you take an idea from one person, it's stealing,  but imitate what
> two people are doing, and you're just following common practice.   Go
> figure.
>

Indeed. From what I've seen of Pragmatic Markup Language, I wouldn't
say it was created from whole cloth, owing nothing to DocBook, LaTeX,
XHTML, etc, etc.