Aptana “steals” PDT code
Long time ago I set up Google alerts to receive new search results related to myself. And today I’ve discovered that Aptana steals “prepares derivative work of“ PDT code.
The only visible “derivation” there is they changed package names, though. 
Posted January 5th, 2009 by Seva Lapsha in category: development, eclipse, integration, java, pdt, php
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5 Responses to “Aptana “steals” PDT code”
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Shalom Says:
January 6th, 2009 at 12:03:01
Dear Seva,
As you might know, Aptana’s PHP is a free, open source project that Aptana contributes to the PHP developers community.
Yes, some of the code, mainly the debugger, in this project was taken (not ’stolen’ as you described it) from the Eclipse PDT project (http://www.eclipse.org/pdt/).
The PDT’s EPL license is honored and all the original comments and trademarks are in place.
Aptana is no different then any other product, like Zend’s, that uses the PDT code base to create a better product. The main difference is that Aptana’s PHP is completely FREE.
Regardless of my current position as the PHP project leader at Aptana, as a former PDT developer and contributor, just like you are, I am very happy to see that the code that I wrote years ago have propagate to other projects and helping other people. My code is in the property of the public now, and the public can use it as needed (as long as the license terms are met). This is the spirit of the open source, and I believe you know it by now
Best,
Shalom Gibly
Lead Engineer for Aptana PHP
Vineet Sinha Says:
January 6th, 2009 at 02:15:36
Ummm…. I don’t get it.
Stealing refers to taking property without permission. The Eclipse foundation was created to support open source and intended for others to use the code.
The only potential moral problem I can imagine would be if Aptana claimed that they wrote the code themselves - but your (and Zend’s) name is on it and they did not even remove that.
Infact, Aptana makes all their code open source as well - so I can’t imagine anyone complaining about it.
Vineet
Chris Aniszczyk Says:
January 6th, 2009 at 06:08:06
They must be changing something other than package names. If they are, shouldn’t they be contributing the changes back to PDT? Or at least the patches of their changes to PDT should be public, due to the EPL.
maarten meijer Says:
January 6th, 2009 at 10:08:35
They “package” a lot somewhat different making everything duplicate. They miss the point of eclipse I think. Example: I have up to date Subclipse installed, but Aptana “insists” on installing again in their “own” version. All I wanted is their PHP editor…
Seva Lapsha Says:
January 21st, 2009 at 03:19:55
To clarify the situation a bit - please refer to my comment here.