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Stack Overflow 'No Copy' Extension: A Special Kind of Evil
DevCommunities Post #4304 · source on Telegram

Stack Overflow 'No Copy' Extension: A Special Kind of Evil

Description

The image is a screenshot of a tweet from user Alex Garrett-Smith (@alexjgarrett). The tweet's text reads, 'I built a browser extension that prevents copying from Stack Overflow posts.' Below this text is a video player thumbnail showing a typical Stack Overflow page. The page displays a question and an answer containing a code block with SQL syntax. In the browser's toolbar, a new extension icon is visible, and a tooltip box points to it with the text 'Stack Overflow No Copy.' The entire image captures a satirical commentary on developer practices. The humor is derived from the paradoxical nature of the tool. Developers universally rely on Stack Overflow for copying code snippets to solve problems quickly. Creating an extension to block this functionality is an act of deliberate, comical self-sabotage. It's a meta-joke about the developer habit of building overly complex or ironically useless tools, and it subtly pokes fun at the 'copy-paste programming' trope often associated with developers of all skill levels

Categories

DevCommunities DeveloperExperience DX Tooling Juniors CodeQuality

Common Tags

Stackoverflow BrowserExtension CopyPasteCoding DeveloperHumor CodingHumor CodingCulture CommunityInJokes

Comments

54
Anonymous ★ Top Pick The pro version of the extension doesn't just prevent copying; it silently introduces a subtle, off-by-one error into any code you manually retype
  1. Anonymous ★ Top Pick

    The pro version of the extension doesn't just prevent copying; it silently introduces a subtle, off-by-one error into any code you manually retype

  2. Anonymous

    Rolled out the “no-copy from Stack Overflow” extension company-wide - legal finally exhaled, but the sprint board is just twelve tickets titled “Re-implement left-pad in pure SQL” and one epic called “Career Counseling.”

  3. Anonymous

    Finally, an extension that enforces what every senior dev claims they do anyway - 'I only use Stack Overflow to understand the concept, not copy the code.' Now watch productivity plummet 80% as developers are forced to actually type out their PostgreSQL transaction handlers from memory

  4. Anonymous

    Blocking copy on Stack Overflow doesn't stop us - it just reintroduces transcription bugs, the artisanal way our seniors learned to debug

  5. Anonymous

    Finally, a browser extension that forces developers to actually understand the SQL they're implementing instead of blindly copy-pasting date_trunc queries. Now we'll discover who's been shipping production code without knowing the difference between transaction_time and maxTransaction_time - spoiler: it's everyone, and the system's been working fine anyway because the real bug was in the requirements

  6. Anonymous

    Clipboard Zero Trust: block Ctrl+C on Stack Overflow so seniors can spend two weeks re‑deriving date_trunc instead of shipping by Friday

  7. Anonymous

    Blocking copy from Stack Overflow: the latest supply‑chain hardening - every snippet now rebuilt from hazy memory with artisanal off‑by‑ones

  8. Anonymous

    The ultimate tech debt firewall: can't copy-paste SO solutions if your prod incident demands a 'custom' regex rewrite

  9. Deleted Account 4y

    But why did you do that?

    1. P S 4y

      Maybe so you have to write out the code and learn it whilst or something...

      1. @RiedleroD 4y

        addend.: you may also alternatively not translate it if it's a regional joke or untranslatable for other reasons

        1. @On1g1r1 4y

          Danke schön!

        2. dev_meme 4y

          Wait, why?!

          1. @sylfn 4y

            > add: if not translate then explain meaning marking as untranslatable is last option and should not be used too frequently imo

            1. dev_meme 4y

              Yeah, that’s exactly my point Cultural exchange is quite a good thing and takes just a few minutes for author of translation

              1. @On1g1r1 4y

                Basically the exact opposite of kidney stones🌝

    2. @TERASKULL 4y

      Developers were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.

  10. dev_meme 4y

    Some questions have no answer 🤷‍♂️

    1. @MMageGangsta 4y

      that bothers me most - cz i can't copy if there's none

  11. @moosschan 4y

    Oh, that's extra wise

  12. @karim_mahyari 4y

    Some people just want to watch the world burn (or the servers)

  13. @caterring 4y

    why would someone even install that extension on their browser?

    1. @symptom9 4y

      +1

  14. @tarasssssssssssssss 4y

    Let me guess, 90% of the code of this extension is taken from stack overflow ?

    1. dev_meme 4y

      No, actually only 14%

      1. @AndoroidP 4y

        Yeah, after he copied 14%, extension didn't allow him to copy the rest

        1. @maraz99 4y

          Makes sense

  15. @On1g1r1 4y

    Я сделяль

    1. @RiedleroD 4y

      please only write messages in English or provide a translation for your message in English

      1. @On1g1r1 4y

        That's kind of a local meme so it's hard to translate :) The best translation i found would be "i maked this" with a sad looking guy

      2. dev_meme 4y

        I made it(transl)

        1. @Dobreposhka 4y

          did...

        2. @On1g1r1 4y

          That doesn't quite convey the meaning tho

          1. dev_meme 4y

            tho?

            1. @On1g1r1 4y

              American internet slang for "though" :)

        3. dev_meme 4y

          Lemme help you

        4. dev_meme 4y

          Text is: “I did it”

          1. dev_meme 4y

            Clap clap

          2. dev_meme 4y

            This is kidney It made stones

            1. dev_meme 4y

              But body don’t really need it 🌚

          3. @On1g1r1 4y

            Thank you dude!

    2. @Dobreposhka 4y

      "I made", but the last letter l was softened, so it's like "I may' "

  16. @kimbasan 4y

    Need to block only copying from question section...

  17. @On1g1r1 4y

    oh no I did it again...

  18. @On1g1r1 4y

    Thank you!

  19. @Agent1378 4y

    He is a hero! He saves people from the imposter syndrome and improves code quality simultaneously!

    1. @sylfn 4y

      you forgot one thing that extension is not preinstalled by default

      1. @freeapp2014 4y

        I think both chrome and Firefox support being controlled by domain policies

      2. @Agent1378 4y

        Even Jesus requires some effort from the person if he wishes to be saved.

  20. @chverma 4y

    Home, tio, no me jodas 😂

    1. @chverma 4y

      It's a message from valencia

  21. @thedeltaw 4y

    He probably used stack overflow while building that extension 😂

  22. @azizhakberdiev 4y

    Kinda trojan extension I guess

  23. @Dexconv 4y

    An actual menace to society

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