Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

["Joe Komenda" <joe AT komejo.com>]

Chris Calloway, inventor of Helvetica wrote:

>> it takes only -little- more talent to create web content than to copy it.

    Actually, you wrote a heckuva lot more than that - but that caught my
eye.

    I can only speak for myself, but I believe it takes an enormous amount
of talent to understand where to draw the line in developing a site; I've
looked at the source for hundreds of sites. I don't think there's anything
wrong with learning from someone else's site. If someone wants to look at my
html and learn how I do things, be my guest.

    However, when I build a page, I start from scratch - because there's no
more efficient way to know all the code you're laying down (this is also my
argument against WYSIWYG editors), and because it's important to know that
it's my code. To me, there is an obvious difference between looking at
someone's source to learn, and copying their page and doing a search -n-
replace on all instances of <name>. That's plagiarism. Following your
argument, I could publish a Harry Potter book under my name, because it's
publicly available, and I paid for the copy I subsequently repackaged.

    Everything Joe Komenda, Web Developer knows is in the www.w3.org ref
specs, and a few O'Reilly books, but everything I make using those skills is
my unique creation. My employer, and the market at large, recognize that
creativity, originality, and good business sense are valuable commodities,
and that is why I have earned the position I now hold.

    I wake up every morning looking forward to working on the Internet,
making a site, or part of a site. The creativity, challenge and skills that
combine to make a really exciting website are found nowhere else today. It's
an amazing medium, combining programming, graphic design, tech writing,
creative writing, marketing, advertising, multimedia and on and on. Every
day it's a new job, a new challenge.

    I don't think that honesty, faithful service and honor are things that
the Internet should dispossess itself of, when it's so easy to give credit
to people at no cost. We should all recognize that the more you give to the
community of the web, the more you get back.

    I think that ultimately, web development is a reflection of an
individual's character, and those who steal from their fellows are sorely
lacking.

Joe Komenda
(on a soapbox)