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Comment by swombat | Hacker News Reader

I think you have this impression that "plundering the public domain" is somehow a bad thing - maybe that's where the misunderstanding comes from. I don't think anyone who's using the term thinks plundering the public domain is a bad thing - we all wish the public domain was even larger, so there would be more plundering going on.

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Then the word you're looking for isn't "plundering" but perhaps "adapting" or "borrowing."

   plun·der
      (v) Steal goods from;
      (n)  The violent and dishonest acquisition of property.

You can't steal that which is given away freely.

I think you have this impression that "plundering the public domain" is somehow a bad thing

I think using the public domain is a good thing. I think that describing it as "raiding" and "plundering" when someone you don't like does it is bullshit.

I don't think anyone who's using the term thinks plundering the public domain is a bad thing

Then why would you use the word plundering to describe it? That's like saying rape is part of a normal and healthy marriage. If you don't mean rape, don't call it rape.

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