Author: Don Prohaska
Date: 12:36:58 12/20/97
Go up one level in this thread
On December 20, 1997 at 13:22:07, Fernando Villegas wrote: >Hi all: >I am not just a self appointed chess computers journalist. I am a real >one, a guy that works in TV, magazines, papers and so on in my country. >And If I can say it, a very reputed one, specially as a columnist. So, I >think I know something about what is due to journalistic pressure to be >the first to put the new and what is due to others considerations. There >is not a general rule about this. It depends totally of circunstances. >To put it clear with an extreme example, in case of war you are not >going to publish anything that hurts your country even if dping so you >get a great new strike. Also, you should be a miserable to publish >something just to be the first to do so if that publication hurts >severely the reputation of an inocent people and for nothing of >importance.And, on the contrary, you would be a very bad journalist and >even a bad citizen if you does not publish something of importante to >your country or the world just because you have a friendship with a guy >or two. >Then, without general rules you must use specific criteria and common >sense and in this case, in the case of KK publication about Ed failure >to protect his rights, I think KK is wrong -and so Chris- when he >claims a kind of jourmalistic obligation to do something that was >clearly damaging a respected member of this community. What benefice are >we going to get as chess consummers if Ed goes bankrupt? What is the >sense suddenly to play the rol as a journalist here, when in a way or >another we know all each others as consummers, posters, programmers or >in any other qualification? We are primarely a club, don't we?, and not >a general, anonimous community that needs to be informed thought >journalists. Are we friends or not? If not, at least we have something >in common that is the advance of this field; we are interested not only >as programmer that earns a life with this, as Ed, but as customers that >wants to get better, nicer programs in the future. I cannot understand >what I would be winning if I get Decade 2,0 with rebel 9 and then Ed >goes baknrupt and Rebel 10 never will appear. Is my interest -is our >interest- to ensure that any programmer gets enough money to stay in his >business. That's the reason reasonable people does not copy ilegally >even if they can. I prefer to pay a fee, to purchase and so to ensure >support, better versions, etc. >All this does not mean that if a program seems badly designed or >marketed -as i have posted about the DOS obstinacy of MCP7 father- you >will not say a word: I did, as maybe you recall, but there is a great >difference between to be an objetive or at least sincere critic of a >product and to say somnnething that at the same time is not necesary and >will produce an extreme damage. Journalism, to be the first to say >something, is no so important to legitimate anything. You must pondere >the weight of each thing in order not to do unnecesary damage, a damage >without compensation for anyone. In the case of MCP7 DOS oobstinacy, I >did not damage severely nobody; surely was sold and is being sold well >and if some damage was done, is justified in order to put in the table >the issue of the platform that people wants now. If I had believed that >for any reason my articles about that issue were capable of putting >Marty out of business, I had silence my pen, for sure. Is that a >"violation" of journalistic ethics or something? No, is just commons >sense, not to be a freak, not to be a fundamentalist. I don't like getting involved at all, but when I read stuff from a guy who said that the Computer Chess Reports does not censor its stuff when it does and he either must know it or is not the great newspaper man he claims, then I would like to ask a question. Did you contact MCP7 to find out what the problem was before you dumped on his program in more than one place? Several times I have had problems (so I thought) with MCP and contacted Marty. He replied almost instantly and resolved the problem. That is more than I can say about other programs that you have hyped. KK made a mistake in my opinion. He has done a lot for for computer chess. Give him a pass. And yeah, if I were Ed I would be pissed at him. But what KK had said about Decade I had heard at least 24 hours before he brought it up. I also blame other for my mistakes! Throw stones!
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