Author: Roberto Waldteufel
Date: 15:37:36 11/29/98
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On November 29, 1998 at 10:27:58, Robert Hyatt wrote: >On November 29, 1998 at 06:07:07, odell hall wrote: > >>Hi CCC >> >> >> I am just curious why is it that I never see any post by Richard Lang on these >>boards, or for that matter Mark Uniacke? I have been wondering about this for >>quite some time. Is it possible they were kicked out? I am sure I am leaving out >>many others. I would assume that all programmers would flock to such a computer >>chess forum! > > >The problem is this: > >Commercial programmers don't want to reveal what they consider "secrets" >because they want to maintain a competitive advantage over their primary >competition for sales, which is the *other* commercial programs. As a >result, you won't see much technical discussion from them. A couple do >post here, primarily to answer questions about their programs from a customer >support perspective, or to discuss games they have played, but again *not* >to supply technical details on the internals. > >As a result, there's really little incentive for one to come here, because >they get dragged into technical support questions and won't get much info from >their competitors anyway. Hi Bob, I think you are spot-on here. It is a great pity that commercial programmers have a dis-incentive to talk openly about what they do, and I wonder how many man-years of progress have been lost through "re-invention of the wheel" as a result. I am sure progress was better back in the days when it was not possible to make a commercially viable product (fast hardware too expensive). Commercial competition can have very beneficial results in many walks of life, but in the case of research and development (of software or anything else), it stifles communication and impedes progress. A sad fact. In the light of all this, I think we may look to your continued work on Crafty as a shining example of the benefits of open discussion. Instead of going for the commercial option and perhaps making some money out of Crafty, you have made a huge contribution to the field by helping to educate others (like me!). In return you get, I expect, a lot of feedback that you might otherwise not get, but *everybody* benefits from the increased availability of knowledge that you provide. And of course, as top free programs like Crafty get stronger, it puts some pressure on the commercial guys to stay one step ahead, so even there you may well be instigating increased chess software development, even if it is done "behind closed doors". I think we all owe you a very big "Thank you" Best wishes, Roberto
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