Re:How To Land Any Major Brand For Your Startup
by vladd on Wednesday October 17, 2012 @02:16AM
(#4663362)
Respect, karma, reputation, breaking the law - these topics can be related to this incident and discussed in an insightful and rational way.
Ethical? I remember what Linus Torvalds said: "ethics are to me something private. Whenever you use it as an argument for why somebody_else should do something, you're no longer being ethical, you're just being a sanctimonious dick-head."
Re:How To Land Any Major Brand For Your Startup
by gizzlon on Wednesday October 17, 2012 @03:36AM
(#4663489)
Well, Linus is wrong. We all do this every day, and have written and unwritten rules to enforce it.
Just because he can code, doesn't mean he has reflected on other things..
Re:How To Land Any Major Brand For Your Startup
by winter_blue on Wednesday October 17, 2012 @04:19AM
(#4663578)
> Just because he can code, doesn't mean he has reflected on other things.
I absolutely agree with that sentiment.
I have seen Linus passing judgement on all sorts of things that have nothing to do with code in a very "sanctimonious" manner.
Re:How To Land Any Major Brand For Your Startup
by gizzlon on Wednesday October 17, 2012 @08:30AM
(#4664061)
yeah, and he's entitled to his opinion, of course. It's up to us as readers and listeners to determine if the opinions hold any merit.
Re:How To Land Any Major Brand For Your Startup
by yarrel on Wednesday October 17, 2012 @04:21AM
(#4663583)
Linus is telling other people it's wrong and they shouldn't do it.
There's a word for that kind of argument, but for the life of me...
Re:How To Land Any Major Brand For Your Startup
by Sambdala on Wednesday October 17, 2012 @05:35AM
(#4663744)
I prefer referring to it as a "Self-Detonating Statement."
Re:How To Land Any Major Brand For Your Startup
by coob on Wednesday October 17, 2012 @04:18AM
(#4663577)
You shouldn't murder someone.
Oh sorry, please stop me from being a sanctimonious dick-head.
Re:How To Land Any Major Brand For Your Startup
by ximeng on Wednesday October 17, 2012 @02:39AM
(#4663405)
Agree. Particularly since you are normally supposed to pay for a seat drop, it seems dishonest to me.
Re:How To Land Any Major Brand For Your Startup
by corwinstephen on Wednesday October 17, 2012 @03:29PM
(#4666028)
I'm going to have to pick the other side on this one. It's an unfortunate result of capitalism that being what some people call "unethical" usually rewards businesses with success. You'll struggle to find any major successful business that didn't get to the position they're in by doing some unethical (and not always in a balsy but harmless way as was done here) things to their competitors. Look at Newscorp, spying on people to get news. Or Apple using unethical manufacturers. Or Microsoft, stealing software. It happens every day, and when it gets to such a corporate level, it's often labeled corporate greed, but honestly it's not. All it is is intelligent business leaders realizing that it's better for their company to do something unethical and take the heat for it than to do nothing at all.
Like with all ethics it's a somewhat subjective position. For me it crosses a line, but I bet more than a few others think its brilliant. Especially for a company in the marketing space. I wouldn't do it myself though, for the following reasons;
Respect. In business it's important to have a sense of respect, for your employees or employer, for your customers, for your competitors, and for yourself. An act like this shows a lack of respect to a competitor, and so I start to wonder who else gets trampled on on your path to success. Maybe me?
Karma. What goes around comes around. Sure this seems like a good idea when you're tiny and willing to pretty much do anything to get noticed, but don't complain when someone does the same thing to you. If some competitor hands out flyers outside your building one day, to your customers, don't come crying to me about it.
Reputation. It's one thing to be the new kid on the block. It's another to be the new kid who breaks the rules on their first day, in full view of everyone and gets away with it. Stuff like that can land you with a rep you'd rather not have.
Kudos for the first two parts of the article. Well done. It shows your creativity. The third though leaves a bit of a bad taste in the mouth. Sorry mate, but that bit is just uncool.