Author: Will Singleton
Date: 23:24:12 10/29/99
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On October 30, 1999 at 01:50:19, Dann Corbit wrote: >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. Hey, Dann, I wasn't attacking you, no need to get testy. I think this is a legitimate topic for discussion, I'm just trying to put my ideas out there, and if someone can offer a better argument, fine. I'm not afraid of "ideas getting out." I only mean to say that the issue is not simple, and that the potential for abuse and for the discouragement of the amateur programmer is real, and perhaps letting people write their own source code is preferable to making it possible to copy. The ideas will appear and be disseminated in the appropriate forums, in a general way. Will
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