I just finished reading to my oldest daughter. We're in the middle of the third book in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series (The Amber Spyglass). The books have been fascinating enough, but tonight I turned to Pullman's Acknowledgments within the last book and loved what I found:I have stolen ideas from every book I have ever read. My principle in researching for a novel is "Read like a butterfly, write l I have stolen ideas from every book I have ever read. My principle in researching for a novel is “Read like a butterfly, write like a bee,” and if this story contains any honey, it is entirely because of the quality of the nectar I have found in the work of better writers.This is how any great writing, art, science, or software happens: our best work is always a composite of others’ best work. This is why Larry Lessig urges lawmakers to permit and encourage the remixing of culture. It’s why I don’t like copyright and patents being used to manacle expression of ideas. Great software is the art of copying the best of others’, and extending it just a bit. We should protect and encourage this. Open source (mostly) does so. Proprietary software does, too, but against its will. This is just one more reason to want more open source, not less. Open Source