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Group email address. Did 37signals copy my idea?

16 points| endtwist | 13 years ago |ninjasandrobots.com | reply

24 comments

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[+] blhack|13 years ago|reply
What the hell is any of this talking about?

Both of you "copied" postfix's "alias_maps" feature, which is what I can only assume has been a standard feature since the beginning of mail server time. Back when I was running our mail for my company (we've since switched to Google Apps), I had several entires in alias_maps that were like:

"[email protected]" | "[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected]"

etc.

(Perhaps I'm misunderstanding this, but from your website it sounds like you're just describing a mailing list)

[+] johansch|13 years ago|reply
LISTSERV (from 1986) is 11 years older than postfix. :)
[+] mikeash|13 years ago|reply
Came here to post the same thing. Basecamp Breeze looks like a subscription service for the standard listserv functionality that dates back to slightly after the invention of the wheel. Is there something about this service that makes it different, or do people actually think that creating an e-mail address that redistributes messages to other e-mail addresses is something new?
[+] benbeltran|13 years ago|reply
That's not really what the article is about.

Quick Edit: Seems to me that this is more about "Hey, don't forget there's also this" and taking the chance to "teach a quick lesson" about how dumb the concept of stealing ideas is and not to fear competition.

[+] feralmoan|13 years ago|reply
> Did 37signals copy my idea?

No. Distribution lists have been basic features of MTA's (postfix, qmail, exchange) for decades.

link bait. Does 37Signals even know Tgethr exists?

[+] TomJoad|13 years ago|reply
Reminds me of when DropBox "copied" my idea of automatically uploading every picture you took from your phone. Mine was a web-app with mobile component. The idea was to make it so easy you would never have to think about it. I even had plans that it would create albums for you based upon dates or locations. I was in the middle of writing the application when DropBox released their upload every picture you take service, shortly followed by many others.
[+] webwanderings|13 years ago|reply
DropBox's idea (your idea, or whoever) is a genius idea. The ability to use your phone or tablet to take pictures and not worry about backing it up (because the app does it all for you) is a priceless experience.