dsandler.org/wp

In which dsandler runs afoul of the maintainers of bash.org,
apparently

So, it appears that I burst into flames by writing a scraper for bash.org.
First off, let me apologize. Attention, people using my script: Ask
permission first. There, done and sorted.

But second, uh … you made this
information available on the web, right? I mean, didn’t you want people
to be able to read it?

I think the lesson is this: People will always be able to get at
your data in ways you didn’t intend. If you make information available
in a consumable form, people will find novel ways to consume it. It’s
just the way it is. (Ask the RIAA about their success in “plugging the
analog hole.”*) But
you always have the opportunity to turn this “theft” into a
collaboration, into a positive bidirectional thing. I’d suggest a
high-level interface to the DB — maybe XML-RPC, or Twisted Python, or some kind of
raw, unadorned HTTP request-response system. Take the high road, and
give people what they want, on terms agreeable to both parties. This
has worked pretty well for others.

* If you think about
it, the “analog hole” in question is the listener’s ear. Talk about the
snake eating its own tail!