Ethics 101: To re-use or not to re-use?

[aaeamdar]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

This [rule] isn't even that hard to implement. Just retype...

Do you really think that simply re-typing the code would satisfy the rule? If so, that's fine. I respect your interpretation of the rule; I'm just looking for some clarification. How would re-typing the same thing be better than copy-paste?

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

One thing all team members must understand is that the rule book is what draws us all together by making us follow the same path.

If the rule book is really what draws us together, then FIRST is a sad organization indeed. Thankfully, I don't believe that our FIRST credo and over one-thousand teams can be summed up into one hundred pages of rules, from non-functional decoration to pneumatics. Is it possible you meant something different from this and I'm reading too much into what you said?

To all those who are saying that following this rule constitutes fair play (and there seem to be quite a few such people), imagine a rule saying that before every meeting, teams must do the chicken dance. Would you still make a "fair play" argument? I suppose that there's some time gained or lost in not doing/doing the chicken dance (as there is in re-using old code directly or re-typing it, as Al S suggests), but is this really what the rule is about?

What do you guys see as the purpose of this rule, and what would be the purpose of a violation? Many people seem to think the intent of a violation is to cheat to get a leg up on hard-working teams following the rule. Is this the case?

Still confused,
Paul Dennis
Team 1719