Cardano plans to use the “shameless theft of great ideas when uncovered” and is trying to be the go to crypto platform that can improve on every crypto platform currently in existence. So is it not possible, likely even, that for every great idea the Cardano foundation comes up with; some other team will also take the same idea and beat them to market and gain mass adoption first? I support the slow and steady approach of Cardano, but I wonder if, as they try to achieve everything in one package, the alternative competing coins and platforms will each specialize to do specific functions better and sooner then Cardano, buy stealing and deploying the ideas that come out of Cardano. (This is the great benefit of open source, to spur on development and share ideas, but where does that leave the relatively slow moving Cardano organization in terms of an investment opportunity?) Today we see the alt-coin market flooded with bitcoin clones, will we soon see hundreds of cardano/ada clones, with teams of developers using all the same Haskell technology as Cardano? -Perhaps this is the point, and the goal of the Cardano foundation. Imitation is the finest form of flattery, but is this a reason to be cautious when considering investing in Cardano, or do you think their slow and steady -research first- approach is going to result in bigger gains for Ada investors in the long run? What’s your opinion? Will new coins and platforms hit the major market exchanges sooner then Ada that have the same scalability, speed, security, etc.?
Well, I think running the system to meet their visions is not as easy as copying the codes and make it run. After watching this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZGVgNsJSnA&list=PLwxPEvq297-uv7aboUB5nIi71kS0eIIGX I’m quite confident that it’s not that easy. 
Open source means that others will copy good ideas from Cardano. That also means that Cardano will be able to adopt good ideas from other sources as well. That is what open source is all about. Cardano is more dedicated to open research and bringing in new/better/proven ideas than most cryptos, and it is very likely they will bring more technical improvements to the crypto ecosystem than most.
Linux and other major open source projects have followed a similar model. It doesn’t guarantee success, but it is one good path to find success. I’m very interested in this project and building a good community is one important aspect of creating a good open source project. There certainly are no guarantees, and many open source projects have failed and died along the way, but Cardano has made a good start, both on the technology and community sides. I’m rooting for them and will contribute in whatever way I can.