Before AI assistants, a developer with a bug searched the error, opened the first result on a Q&A site and copied the accepted answer: the one with the green tick. Often the answer was ten years old. Often the code is still in production today.
Our shirt shows that answer: Accepted answer · 2011, 4,812 upvotes, and the comment // still in production. On the back: copied with love. The shirt does not name any site, but every developer knows which one we mean.
A short history
Stack Overflow was founded in 2008 by Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky. Atwood announced it on his blog in April 2008, and the site opened to the public in September of that year. The idea was simple: questions, answers, votes, and one answer the person who asked could mark as accepted.
For more than a decade it was the default place to find a fix. Then AI assistants arrived. In January 2026, DevClass reported that “only 3,862 questions were posted in December – a 78 percent drop from the previous year.” The 2025 Stack Overflow Developer Survey found that “84% of respondents are using or planning to use AI tools in their development process.”
What research says about copied code
Copying from answers is not only a joke. Researchers have measured it:
| Study | Finding |
|---|---|
| Baltes & Diehl, usage and attribution of snippets in GitHub projects | “At most a quarter of the copied code snippets from SO are attributed as required.” |
| Fischer et al., Stack Overflow Considered Harmful? | 15.4% of 1.3 million Android apps contained security-related snippets from the site, and 97.9% of those had at least one insecure snippet. |
So the accepted answer from 2011 is not always safe. It was correct for the question, the language version and the threat model of its time.
The license nobody read
Content on the site is not public domain. The licensing page says that content from before 8 April 2011 is under CC BY-SA 2.5, from then until 2 May 2018 under CC BY-SA 3.0, and after that under CC BY-SA 4.0. All of them ask for attribution. A comment with a link to the answer is the minimum.
Copying then and now
| Accepted answer, 2011 | AI assistant, today |
|---|---|
| You searched and chose the answer | The assistant chooses for you |
| Votes and comments warned about bad code | No votes, no comments |
| You could see the date | You cannot see where the code came from |
| Link in a comment for attribution | Usually no source at all |
The developer survey shows the same doubt: “More developers actively distrust the accuracy of AI tools (46%) than trust it (33%).” The forum answer at least had 4,812 people who checked it.
Get the shirt
Accepted Answer 2011 T-Shirt · 24 €
Accepted, upvoted, still in production.
I Asked the AI T-Shirt · 24 €
The same feeling, with an AI.
It Works, Why? Developer T-Shirt · 24 €
When the copied code works and you do not know why.
All shirts are unisex, S to 5XL, printed on demand in black, graphite heather and white. Check the size guide before ordering. More ideas in the Christmas gift guide for programmers.
FAQ
Is it OK to copy code from Stack Overflow?
Yes, if you follow the CC BY-SA license and attribute the answer, usually with a link in a comment. Read the code and check it for security problems first.
Why are there fewer questions on Stack Overflow?
Many developers now ask AI assistants instead. In December 2025, new questions were 78% lower than a year before.
What is an accepted answer?
It is the answer the person who asked the question marked as the one that solved the problem. It shows a green tick.