Author: Dan Homan
Date: 08:14:19 10/29/99
Go up one level in this thread
On October 29, 1999 at 03:24:40, Will Singleton wrote: > >Lastly, I'd like to point out that I don't like the idea of distributing highly >advanced source code, I think it's detrimental to the spirit of discovery and >individual achievement. It dissuades the true amateur from the game. I know >this because I have looked at crafty's code and found it beautiful, elegant, and >good. And I won't copy it, though others do. The way to advance the theory of >chess programming is not to publish your code, but rather to publish your ideas. > >Will I found this to be a very interesting paragraph. I've been trying to decide lately whether to release the newest version of EXchess under the GNU license. All of my previous versions (including up to v2.51) have been released that way - complete with source code. EXchess, of course, is not highly advanced... I have always used the simplest possible data structures and it's strength is maybe a little better or worse than GNU chess 4.?? depending on time controls/machine speed/ponder setting. I benefited quite a bit from looking at TSCP and crafty. Some people have told me that they have found my code informative to look at. A couple of programmers have even used EXchess as the starting point for their own chess projects (which I hope they realize are also under the GNU open-source license due to its copy-left nature). All of this is great, but I am not sure that it is the right thing to do anymore. This buisiness with Voyager/La Petite has really made me wonder if maybe there isn't a better way.... The idea that someone can take an advanced program like crafty and claim it as their own is very discouraging to those of us doing it from scratch. What is the solution? I like your point that explaining ideas (perhaps through the use of pseudo-code) is perhaps a better way to advance chess programming than releasing full source code. On the other hand, having the full source code is great for people who want to tinker - making the program do things that Bob hasn't got around to or isn't really interested in at the moment. For that sort of thing, having a full working program like crafty, complete with source code, is great and even necessary - unfortunately someone has already tried to claim the thing as their own and others may follow their lead. - Dan
This page took 0.01 seconds to execute
Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700
Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.