I am sure we all read this right?


Then why doesn't Jeff Atwood follow this rule in his most recent twitter post?


This was originally Pesto's comment:


What is going on here?

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can pesto sue atwood? maybe he'll get stackoverflow in the settlement –  jmfsg Aug 5 '09 at 17:59
@Juan: We could only hope. Finally we would have an answer to our moderation issues. –  GEOCHET Aug 5 '09 at 18:00
@Juan: He'll be hearing from my attorney (Mr. Lionel Hutz, Esq.) in short order. –  Hilarious Comedy Pesto Aug 5 '09 at 18:29
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5 Answers

up vote 21 down vote accepted

I think it's fairly obvious what is going on here: Jeff is trying to steal my comedic genius for his own nefarious purposes. I am shocked -- shocked -- that Jeff would stoop to such levels. How can we trust anything this man says when he so brazenly flaunts his disobedience of the very rules he created?

The only fair solution is that he turn over complete control of StackOverflow to me. Actually, I'm not sure that's enough. We'd better stuff him in a wet burlap bag, string him up by his toes, and beat him with a cane while we're at it. Notorious criminal mastermind Jeff Atwood must learn that actions have consequences.

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I think Welbog would insist we use that occasion to also drive a stake into his heart. –  GEOCHET Aug 5 '09 at 18:02
TheTXI would Something with a Pony... –  jjnguy Aug 5 '09 at 18:09
I think excessive use of formatting should also have consequences. –  mmyers Aug 5 '09 at 18:09
@mmyers: I hope they're sexy consequences. –  Hilarious Comedy Pesto Aug 5 '09 at 18:10
Just be glad attributions enough and you're not getting charged punitive damages for using a whole 20 words without prior agreement. techdirt.com/articles/20090726/1601375666.shtml –  Kent Fredric Aug 6 '09 at 10:03
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Where's my credit for that?!?

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I'd twitter you some credit, but i can't stuff it all in 140 characters... –  Shog9 Aug 5 '09 at 19:26
If I've learned anything from current events, the way to resolve this situation is for Jeff and I to go have a beer with the President. Only then can the healing begin. –  Hilarious Comedy Pesto Aug 5 '09 at 19:38
respek! –  Jeff Atwood Aug 5 '09 at 19:53
I'll meet you at the combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. joeydevilla.com/2009/08/05/… –  Jeff Atwood Aug 5 '09 at 21:33
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That's an ancient quote, I doubt that the originator was the person that put it on stackoverflow... Not to mention that Twitter causes a 140 char limit that doesn't always allow for the social niceties.

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First of all, it's not an ancient quote. I do know that I cribbed much of it from a TDWTF forum post I made ages ago, but which I seem to be unable to find now. It may have been on a deleted post. However, I'm certain others have come up similar lines (it is obvious, after all), but that one is most certainly mine. I'm not bothered by it at all, but it does amuse me that Jeff ignored his own rules. –  Hilarious Comedy Pesto Aug 5 '09 at 18:13
I think it is certainly a "Pesto original". The only thing I could find that was even remotely (very remotely) similar was here: blakjak.demon.co.uk/prod_wr2.htm –  gnostradamus Aug 5 '09 at 18:16
"Social niceties"! Is it talk like a pirate day again? –  innaM Aug 5 '09 at 19:19
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Twitter doesn't even allow room for proper links. How could you expect proper attribution? It's nothing short of amazing that he even managed to squeeze the full quote in!

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Perhaps he should not have posted it to twitter then, huh? –  GEOCHET Aug 5 '09 at 19:19
But... Twitter is teh new h0tness!! If it's not twitted, it doesn't properly Exist! –  Shog9 Aug 5 '09 at 19:24
I believe the correct past-tense is 'twate'. –  ajm Aug 5 '09 at 20:33
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I can guess:

  • He owns the copyright
  • There's not enough space in twitter
  • Are we sure it's 100% original to Pesto anyway?
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Let me take your answer point by point. Point #1: I don't think this is accurate (it's all CC-Wiki and requires attribution). Point #2: That's really not a good excuse. Otherwise I'm reposting everything from SO, 140 characters at a time. Point #3: It's 100% original to me in the sense that I didn't swipe it from anywhere (see my comment on Brian Knoblauch's post), but I don't claim to be the only one to have ever conceived of it. –  Hilarious Comedy Pesto Aug 5 '09 at 18:18
Point 1 is certainly citation-required. Is there some terms of service document I agreed to where I turned copyright to my words over to Jeff? I can find no evidence of it. It's actually all quite vague, but near as I can tell, the implication of posting something on S[OFU] is that you're agreeing to license it under cc-attribution-sharealike and that S[OFU] is using it under those terms. –  chaos Aug 5 '09 at 18:42
Further material on this here: meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/13976/… –  chaos Aug 16 '09 at 17:29
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