# Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Tags:** icc\ **Created:** [August 20, 2026, 4:43pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/imitation-is-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/116847 "2026-08-20T16:43:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![michael.flagler](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/michael.flagler/32/26272_2.png) [@michael.flagler](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/michael.flagler)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 4:43pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/imitation-is-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/116847/1 "2026-08-20T16:43:46Z")
Looks like Rockwell is trying to copy the Build-a-Thon competition. > **[Automation Fair - ROKathon | Rockwell Automation | US](https://www.rockwellautomation.com/en-us/events/automation-fair/experience/rokathon.html)** > > Learn more about the annual Automation Fair hackathon event. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Laubach](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/steve_laubach/32/60900_2.png) [@Steve\_Laubach](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Steve_Laubach)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/imitation-is-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/116847/2 "2026-08-20T17:45:40Z")
I don't blame them. Build-a-Thon is so cool. The thing they should be copying is making support resources available to everyone without a pay wall. I hate how they paywall everything. It's ridiculous. That was a working model in the 90's... like DCOM (shots fired). It's not the 90's. ---
**Author:** ![tgarrison](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/tgarrison/32/80965_2.png) [@tgarrison](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/tgarrison)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 5:51pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/imitation-is-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/116847/3 "2026-08-20T17:51:48Z")
I hate Rockwell's website with a passion. The fact they can't make authentication work across their site drives me nuts. And their 27 clicks to download everything.. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Laubach](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/steve_laubach/32/60900_2.png) [@Steve\_Laubach](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Steve_Laubach)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 5:56pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/imitation-is-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/116847/4 "2026-08-20T17:56:53Z")
At least they change the UI basically every day so you have to figure out where they moved things every visit. ---
**Author:** ![michael.flagler](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/michael.flagler/32/26272_2.png) [@michael.flagler](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/michael.flagler)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 6:09pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/imitation-is-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/116847/5 "2026-08-20T18:09:43Z")
And please just give me direct download links (or make it an option to prefer them). Their download manager works, but I just want to download them on my own. But yeah, the login process is horrible. "Remember Me" is like a checkbox that does nothing. And when I have a toolkit serial in the system, don't make me select it every time to download a file. ---
**Author:** ![Chris\_Bingham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Chris\_Bingham](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Chris_Bingham)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 7:05pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/imitation-is-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/116847/6 "2026-08-20T19:05:40Z")
> [@michael.flagler](#): > > Their download manager works, but I just want to download them on my own. 💯 I've speculated that this is their attempt to solve the problem of people extracting installation files to the user's download folder, whereby file paths might exceed the bogus Windows character limitation. When techs reach out for support on 'strange issues' encountered while using the software - my first question is often "During installation, did you extract files to C:\RA\ ?" ---
**Author:** ![jay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@jay](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/jay)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 8:41pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/imitation-is-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/116847/7 "2026-08-20T20:41:22Z")
Whenever I ask AI a question about a Rockwell product the answers usually come from Reddit or someplace other than the Rockwell website. Even the finest information search technology available cannot navigate their web site. ---
**Author:** ![nminchin](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/nminchin/32/6911_2.png) [@nminchin](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/nminchin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2026, 5:03pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/imitation-is-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery/116847/8 "2026-08-21T17:03:08Z")
> [@tgarrison](#): > > And their 27 clicks to download everything.. 27? You must tell me your secrets! I've been using the 49 click method The worst thing for me is their "forum". It's a joke. You can subscribe to huge collections of products, not just single products. So you end up getting email notifications for 20 products you didn't know existed, rather than the 1 you might care about. While you're on the forum as well, it's incredibly difficult to actually find whoch of your topics have replies, and which of your replies have replies. There's nothing at the top like discourse forums. It's such bad UI/UX