Using someone source code....

Is it considered "unethical", or just plain wrong, to use a partial source code from another site, on your own?

I wish to add a section to one of my sites, for viewing of online videos. I would not use anything but their layout, really. I'd add in my own videos, and remove anything that is on theirs, such as text and all that.

If you people find this to be wrong, I just won't do it. I know, its usually a good rule-of-thumb to not do something if you have to question whether or not it's bad. Also, could someone please give me a suggestion for a program that is geared towards noobs? Or just easy to learn? I have tried photoshop, its just , eh. I get headaches very easily, and can only sit at my pc for about 1 hr then take a break for about 15 minutes or so. I'm VERY much stuck here and getting frustrated.

Why not post it on freelancer or elance and get it done for 30 dollars

At least you will sleep better

The guy who does it will probably do exactly what your contemplating and package it as yours

Try get them to add new feature into it that the other guys haven't got

People will always copy others. When it comes to a site's source code, it is very easy to copy someone else.

Just like on YOUTUBE, I have uploaded a few videos to promote my website and a few days ago I saw a few people actually copy my videos, edit them with their own website in them, and then upload them to YOUTUBE again.

talfighel

True, very true. I mean when I first considered it, I got a bad feeling. Must be the Catholic beaten in to me at a younger age, before I learned critical thinking, lol. Anyway....

What I am talking about is basically the structure itself, if that's put correctly. How everything is put out on the page. How the videos are all put in their nicely, etc. I can do all that myself, heck I learned a lot of HTML in just a couple days, if that. Not everything involved in building. Still need to learn at least PHP and Java. That's why I have to stick to perhaps a pre-built template.

There is not a doubt brewing in my small mind about learning all languages, or perhaps just the "top languages", if there is such a list. I want to be able to have conversations where someone speaking "code" and I am not frowning because I feel so stupid. When I know that theres nobody really stupid, when they actually desire to learn. Heck, its in our nature to be the best at whatever is there to help better our lives! =D

Ugh, there's another thing I must learn, a very highly-prized skill, one that is over looked by SO many, a skill that when mastered, one can master computer science just as easy as they can tying their shoes! (Hopefully someone knows what I mean. Critical thinking is one of the reasons why this country, the U.S. , has SUCH a poor educational system. I learned long ago, its one reason I left school early, that the educational system in America is NOT designed, I repeat NOT designed to teach people HOW to think. All they teach is, basically, how to memorize "facts", and other very basic skills. LOL I sound nuts , don't I? Sorry, it takes me about 16 pages of babbling before I am at all satisfied with any point I am trying to get across. I just love being human. We are as complex as we are naive. I'll be honest here... I was not THIS excited about taking in as much knowledge as possible.. until I picked up an interest, a strong desire to learn the art of the interwebs. Funny as it is, how I say all this now, it is THIS very website that has sparked this undying devotion to all that I go on about now.


But I digress... I am not sure why it takes me so long to attempt to make a point. It's just that I get excited, as if there were a beautiful woman standing before me, lol. *watches out for gf* Nah, she is the same way. So , so very much to say, so very passionate... I do believe that is why the Universe pulled us out of the massive dust bowl that is existence, and joined us together.


Also, if there is a shrink in the house, feel free to let me know what you think of all that crap I just spewed forth!


In closing, I just wish to thank all those who contribute to this wonderful website, and who show unbelievable patience for noobs such as myself! You are all VERY much appreciated, even if some of us do not tell you often! Man, now I lost my train of thought, lol. Caffeine must be wearing off. God bless.

haiden: Is it considered "unethical", or just plain wrong, to use a partial source code from another site, on your own?
Whether or not it's unethical or wrong is an individual judgment in my opinion. But getting "inspiration" from someone else's ideas is another matter altogether.

If the code in question would work for your situation and you're feeling a bit squeamish about using it as is, then simply change some aspect of it to make it different... and ease your conscience.

The reality is, there's nothing new under the sun. Somewhere in cyberspace there probably exists at least one other instance of that particular piece of coding, which came from the mind of the person using it. And the fact that it has a twin is purely coincidental.

haiden: thisisournet.com

*could not get it to link ;x
ima noob.... yeah, my excuse.
Use this format: [ url=http://thisisournet.com]ThisIsOurNet.com[/url ]

Note: I used [ space url= and [/url space ] intentionally, so that you could see the configuration; otherwise you'd just see "ThisIsOurNet.com" as a link.

When you make the change, remove the space so that the format starts with and ends with

Hermas

Thanks for the reply, A8ch!

Yes, I did intend to change some of the code to work for myself. I just wanted, basically, the layout.

Also, thanks for the fix on the proper format!

I always try to be completely ethical and above board in my dealings, but I have to admit that I've used some source code from other sites in the past to get the "look" of something, as you are referring to.

For example, I needed to make a large table for some content that I wanted to add to one of my sites, but I was new to html and couldn't understand all the bits yet.

I took the html code off of an unrelated site and stripped out the content, replacing it with my own content.

In this type of instance, the code is not "unique" to them. Code is just code. If I had learned how to create the table on my own, it would have been the exact same, just taken me a LOT longer to accomplish what I needed to do.

That may not be the case with all types of code (cause I sure don't understand them all), but I didn't really have any twinge of conscience doing this in that instance.

As Hermas said, in some cases it's a judgment call.

Blessings,
Angie

OK, here is my view, now that I have thought about it....

I do not think it is "unethical", anymore. Why? Sure, it may be someones design, but if I use it, and add to it , in the design, then I am simply complementing the original designer.

Basically, taking one idea and expanding on it (expanding is that properly used here?)

If I may be cheesy for a moment (for I am the king of cheese!), I believe sharing ideas encourages creativity. If that makes sense...


Also, guess what I figured out? A way (this is just an example):

Spending $7.00 and making a $493.00 profit. If anyone is interested to know how, I will explain later. I have a ton of work to do. Basically, it involves marketing.

Edit* happywife, thanks so much for your feedback! I value each and every opinion very much!

haiden: Is it considered "unethical", or just plain wrong, to use a partial source code from another site, on your own?

On another note, it could be copyright infringement in some cases.
Some sites are created using copyrighted formats like Adobe's.

Stick to Open Source software and support creativity.
People helping people is what Open Source is about.