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Subject: Re: when is a clone a clone?

Author: Russell Reagan

Date: 14:25:25 11/28/03

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On November 28, 2003 at 05:00:49, martin fierz wrote:

>just a short question:
>
>if i rip assembler stuff like popcount and firstone from the crafty source, but
>the rest of my program is entirely different, am i doing something wrong?
>
>if i use the kogge-stone floodfill algorithms posted here by steffan westcott,
>am i doing something wrong?
>
>how much foreign code is allowed?
>
>cheers
>  martin
>
>PS: i use a table-based popcount, not crafty's assembly code. i use a modified
>version of crafty's lastone. i don't use steffan's floodfill code, but i plan to
>give it a try.

Being the author of a clone program isn't a bad thing in itself. It is a bad
thing when you try and hide it. It's the cheating factor.

I would say that if the majority of the code was created by you, and that you
are open about what you have borrowed, then there should be no problem. For
instance, if there is some licensing agreement (such as the GPL with a number of
chess programs), there should be no problem as long as you don't breach that
agreement.

Even if your program is 90% of Crafty, as long as you are open about that, that
is fine. Someone might not let you into their tournament, or you might not be
able to sell your work commercially (hypothetically), but at least you aren't
going to be accused of cheating.

If someone wants to leave no doubt, they could include the shared code. Include
a file in your download that has the pop count, bit scan, random number
generator, or whatever, and make it clear, "this is what I borrowed from
Crafty," and I don't see how anyone can accuse you of anything.



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