The artist definition of stealing (say for a painter) isn't literally moving your brush the exact same way that somebody else did. Stealing refers to the concepts. Someone could look at how, say, Vincent van Gogh painted and steal some of his techniques, his style. And combine that with their own experience, making something unique and beautiful.
In the context of computer programming, that definition of stealing refers to, again, concepts and techniques. Maybe I saw someone else write a piece of functionality in a certain way and thought it's neat, so I stole it. But I don't literally go through her code and copy-paste everything. I learn from her technique and adapt it to my own style, possibly making something new by combining it with what I already know.
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This is a very bad take IMO.
The artist definition of stealing (say for a painter) isn't literally moving your brush the exact same way that somebody else did. Stealing refers to the concepts. Someone could look at how, say, Vincent van Gogh painted and steal some of his techniques, his style. And combine that with their own experience, making something unique and beautiful.
In the context of computer programming, that definition of stealing refers to, again, concepts and techniques. Maybe I saw someone else write a piece of functionality in a certain way and thought it's neat, so I stole it. But I don't literally go through her code and copy-paste everything. I learn from her technique and adapt it to my own style, possibly making something new by combining it with what I already know.