Author: Russell Reagan
Date: 02:09:44 02/16/05
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On February 15, 2005 at 18:38:43, John Merlino wrote: >I'm not trying to start a brutally long thread here, but I'm just curious about >how people feel about a particularly touchy subject -- clones. What, in your >mind, would lead you to the conclusion that an engine is a clone? > >Let's forget trying to find ways to PROVE that a clone is a clone; I'm just >trying to define one. For the sake of argument, assume that the author of this >engine in question tells you exactly what he did and did not do, and you must >decide whether to call it a clone or not. > >Here are some hypothetical questions to start the debate: > >If the author took Crafty and completely rewrote the evaluation code and nothing >else, would it be a clone? > >How about if the author rewrote the evaluation code and search algorithm only, >but left the hashing code, et. al.? > >How about if the author rewrote everything EXCEPT for the evaluation? > >How about if the author rewrote everything EXCEPT for Crafty's evaluation of >passed pawns? > >I think you can see where I'm driving. Obviously, many engine authors have >studied Crafty and other engines whose authors have graciously provided their >source code. But, for an engine to not be considered a clone, does it have to be >absolutely 100% the work of the author? (Forget about Nalimov's EGTB probing >code and any other code that can be used with permission). > >Many thanks in advance for your thoughts, > >jm (who's just preparing for any eventuality during his upcoming stint as >moderator :-) "Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet. Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.” When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.” Peter said to her, “How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband." Acts 5:1-10 What is the sin here? Keeping part of the money for themselves, or lying about it? A church is having a "feed the homeless" meal. One homeless man attends the meal and receives the free food. Another man picks a lock and sneaks into the church in the middle of the night to steal the food. Both men get the same food. Both men hurt no one and damaged nothing. However, each man faces different consequences if the truth is known about their actions. One man faces no consequenes, while the other might go to jail. A professor writes a strong chess program and shares the source code with anyone who wants it. One man makes modifications to the professor's source code and shares his modifications with anyone who wants a copy. If he ever decides to enter a competition, he gets permission from the professor and lists him as a contributing author. Another man makes modifications to the professor's source code, but he works in private and never tells anyone. He enters it in competitions and presents it as his own work. Each man is guilty of creating a clone. However, each man faces different consequences if the truth is known. One would be accepted in the community and the other banned. I think the intent and circumstances surrounding each case play a bigger role than the specific violations. Creating a clone can be a good thing or a bad thing. Linux is a Unix clone, but it is a very good thing. One person's clone could be 90% unchanged and be accepted, while another person's clone could retain only 1% of the original code and still damage the person's reputation or cause them to be banned from certain competitions. I think these kinds of things are more important than, "How much of a program can be copied before the new work is considered a clone?"
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