Is "stealing" really a bad thing ?
 

I was reading in another thread that someone got mad and busted another person out for "stealing" a navigation-scheme from another site.

Is this really stealing???

I've always thought that it was okay to utilize someone else's ideas and put your own spin on them. Especially navigation schemes on websites. You see something you like, and you're like; "wow, that would look really clean on my site". So, you design it for yourself, put your own spin on it, and it looks smooth for you.

Am I wrong?

depends on *how* specific the idea is. and how much it was copied.

I think taking inspiration from someone else is fine. Everyone in history has done that. Everyone has their influence. For myself though, if someone creates something that is obviously copied from someone elses work. I would call that stealing personally.

just my 2 cents worth :)

I steal a lot. Around 90% of my content is from tgps. I also have a stolen car and most of my clothing I've gotten by stealing them. I have yet to pay a dime for my food too. I live in an appartement I stole.

"Hey, cool, a nav menu on the top of the page can look really great!" isn't stealing.... "Hey, cool, the nav menu on that site would look really great on my site!" is. When in doubt, you know the answer.