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Subject: Re: Basics of Programming Computerchess and Forbidden "Cloning"

Author: Robert Hollay

Date: 15:57:49 05/12/05

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On May 12, 2005 at 18:26:32, Dann Corbit wrote:

>On May 12, 2005 at 18:20:12, Robert Hollay wrote:
>
>>  When you buy Delphi, you automaticaly get rights to use certain libraries
>>in your CLOSED SOURCE projects. Whereas with GNU GPL licence (Fruit)
>>you have rights to modify the sources, but they must remain open.
>>  On the other side, I'm not sure that making chess engines open source was a
>>good practice. People could share ideas, algorithms, code samples, etc... but
>>when
>>a magician reveals ALL his tricks to the public, then the magic disappears ...
>
>Which is (of course) a good thing.

Ask David Copperfield :-)

>
>>Computer chess is a hobby, a game, a competition, and not so vital to the
>>human race that one is supposed to share all his secrets with others.
>
>The algorithms of chess are benefical for many things.  It is an abstract search
>of a complicated solution space.  There are many tasks in life that can use the
>same ideas.
>
>>Exactly these little secrets can make it exciting!
>
>Hiding information is for lazy people.  C. A. R. Hoare inveted a sort routine
>called quicksort a while back.  He showed other people how to do it.  What an
>evil man?!
>

No, I said people can share ideas ,algorithms (like Ed Shroeder did for example)
 helping others, without making their projects open source, thus tempting to
clone them.

>>  And just one more thing. If you place a well-laid table full of delicious food
>> in the centre of a city full of starving people, then you shouldn't expect
>>that the table remains untouched ... maybe in fairy tales!
>
>If you publish a book, you should expect people to steal it then?
>

If they could make money of it, they WILL steal it. But I can't imagine
how can books become closed source :)

Robert




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