Author: Dann Corbit
Date: 22:50:19 10/29/99
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On October 30, 1999 at 01:24:40, Will Singleton wrote: [snip] >Perhaps there is a distinction between open source for end-user apps and open >source for tools. Perhaps it also has something to do with the fact that chess >is a game, that there is direct combat between programs, with immediate >measurable results. > >But I find it unusual that you would not have considered writing a chess program >without a road map, or indeed a blueprint together with a finished product. I >thought of it as soon as the Apple 2 came out, and it became generally feasible >for the average joe. Where is the adventure in tweaking someone else's years of >hard work? How can you find satisfaction in that? I find plenty. So I guess it is in the eye of the beholder. >TSCP I can understand. But when you get into advanced programs, you are merely >appropriating someone else's vision, you are getting something for nothing. I disagree. >Let me put it this way: when you publish your chess program, will you include >the fact that it is really Phalanx with a couple of mods? It won't be Phalanx with a couple of mods. However, if I use an idea from Phalanx, I will put credit where credit is due. I am a very literate programmer, and always credit the immediate source of the information. >Or perhaps a mixture >of Crafty and Phalanx? Because it seems that is your argument. If so, and you >improve on those programs, I applaud you. But will you give the proper credit? Of course I will give credit to all relevant sources. And your idea seem to become much clearer now. You are against learning the advanced techniques -- or at least learning them in a way that you do not approve of, it would seem. If I discover them in this way, how can you possibly see harm in that compared with reading a paper and coding them from scratch? Also, when you see someone's very clever implementation, you learn something about what they are thinking and brilliant ways to combine things. There are a number of people in this forum that I have sent code to. In all cases where I borrowed an idea, I told exactly where the idea came from. You are afraid of the ideas getting out. Or that is what I perceive. I could be overreacting to your message. It is hard to tell in a forum where communication is only by the written word. At any rate, I think open source is great and I think exchange of ideas is great. If the ideas are exchanged as source code or a postscript paper or a text message in CCC makes no difference to me. And I will learn and apply from all three -- along with any other avenue I can explore.
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