Author: Dann Corbit
Date: 12:11:47 10/29/99
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On October 29, 1999 at 03:24:40, Will Singleton wrote: [snip] >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. I don't think I could possibly disagree with anything more. While I agree that publication of the algorithms is far more valuable than publication of the source code (because the publication of an algorithm invariably is an explanation of it rather than an instance) those that do not publish their code tend also not to publish their algorithms. Back in the 50's through the late 70's people used to publish their algorithms. The ACM journal is full of all kinds of tremendous research -- much of which has not been improved upon in decades. You will see that along with the descriptions of the algorithms, they also include an implementation. That is because it is also a valuable teaching tool. The spirit of discovery is wonderful, but to have each and every chess programmer reinvent the wheel is a billion times worse than having an explanation of the wheel and an explanation of the engine so that someone can come up with something better. If you don't know what is already there, the probability that you will come up with something better is vastly reduced. Will algebra be invented without arithmetic? Will trigonometry be invented without geometry? Will calculus be invented without algebra? Each new discovery *REQUIRES* the previous advancements in order to succeed. I have no interest in discovering something that someone else has already invented. I would much prefer for them to explain it to me or show me how they have done it. Once I understand it, I might possibly be able to improve it. If I don't understand it, chances are that I will reinvent it (and poorly). Why do people hide information? A number of reasons. For commercial purposes, if you know a better way to do something, it can make you rich. Some unscrupulous characters might also try to steal the credit for something you have slaved over. In any case, I am a proponent of open source (though I much prefer the ACE model to that used by GNU which I feel is even more restrictive than a normal copyright).
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