Author: Dann Corbit
Date: 12:07:22 09/28/99
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On September 28, 1999 at 15:01:02, Dave Gomboc wrote: >It was reported here by a member of the SSDF that most of the machines that the >SSDF uses are owned by volunteers, but that four are owned by the SSDF itself. > >1) Are the four machines owned by the SSDF the four AMD K6-2-450 machines? > >If the answer to 1) is yes, then > >2) Was the purchase of these machines sponsored by another organization? > >If the answer to 2) is yes, then > >3) Was this other organization ChessBase or any organization that might be >reasonably construed to be affiliated with ChessBase? > >If the answer to 3) (and by extension, 1 and 2) is yes, then SSDF has just >earned a big credibility problem. > >On the other hand, if the answer to any of the above questions was "no", then I >think this topic is safely droppable. Unless they signed the agreement not to play the other programs on the fast machines, I do not see a serious problem in this. Even in that case, the results still have value. I do understand that they could be used to trick those who are not mathematically inclinded, however. Let's suppose that Dave Gomboc has a testing service and LargeFinancialCo donates a bunch of equipment. As long as there are no strings attached, I don't see an enormous problem (although human nature might come into play as the recipients are likely to be 'grateful'). On the other hand, if SSDF was on some sort of payroll by CB, then I would consider subsequent results invalid. If you are continually dependent on an entity that is sponsoring your research, then the outcome cannot be trusted for obvious reasons. I have seen no evidence whatsoever of any case of wrongdoing.
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