Author: Enrique Irazoqui
Date: 05:47:11 01/25/99
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On January 24, 1999 at 16:50:31, Robert Hyatt wrote: >On January 24, 1999 at 14:04:26, Ed Schröder wrote: > >>Just took a look at your sources I once have downloaded. I noticed >>there is no license agreement or copyright statement at all? >> >>How can people know about the legal status? >> > >First, look at the top of main.c.. the copyright notice is right at the top, >and has been there since it was first released. Second, I'd think most people >could figure out that you can just 'lift' something written by someone else and >claim it as your own work. That's called plagerism. If you took any sort of >English/Writing/Grammer courses in college, you were taught that when you take >something 'verbatim' from another author you _must_ cite the source and original >author _every time_. _no_ exceptions... > >I'd assume everyone has that basic training in writing? > >IE my son had this in 10th/11th/12th grade in high school. Basic training in writing would also teach you not to misspell "plagiarism" and "grammar"... :) Aside from legal and moral issues, I find confusing the meaning of freeware or public domain. Opening books are built from human theory and used by every program. I have never seen opening lines in computer games quoted "as in the game Karpov-Ivanchuk, Linares '92". Tablebases are widely used too by programmers that had nothing to do with their development. These are two quick examples of "public domain" used freely (as in free-ware?) by everybody. I guess I am being naive. There is a famous case in literature. When Thomas Mann published his "Doktor Faustus", he was immediately accused of unethical behavior because he put in the mouth of Leverkün, one of the main characters, the musical theories of Schönberg and of the Frankfurt School, notably Adorno, without ever mentioning his sources. Had he given credit to Adorno and Schönberg, no one could have said anything about Mann's use or development of their theories. Does this apply to the discussion in this thread? Imagine that a programmer uses your code as the basis for his new program and introduces some modifications here and there, in evaluations functions, wherever. Then he gives you credit for the source and enters the new hybrid in a tournament for testing purposes. All programmers want to see how successful is their baby. Would this be allowed? If not, what are the limitations of freeware (free?) and what is the practical use of freeware if not "take it and develop it in any way you want" (free)? I understand that all this thread started as a discussion about Bionic. I read that Hans gave you due credit. I am not questioning Bionic or Hans. I am only trying to understand what is "freeware" in general and as a learning/developing tool. Enrique
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