Author: Tom Kerrigan
Date: 12:42:32 01/23/00
Go up one level in this thread
On January 23, 2000 at 14:50:36, Jeremiah Penery wrote: >My question is "Why hasn't someone _else_ done it?". >It sounds pretty much like DB just had a bunch more knowledge, and extended >more/differently than PC programs. If it would be a good program this way, why >hasn't someone else implemented all their knowledge and search techniques (as >much as they can figure out) already? Probably because it would perform >pathetically on the PC. No, that's not the reason. The reason is that nobody knows how DB works. It's not like DB's evaluation function is public domain. If it was, somebody would have already made DB for a PC and we wouldn't have these arguments. If you can give me an exact description of DB's eval function, I will pay you $100 (possibly more), and I will release a program using that function in less than a month. >uses a selective search, which DB does not do. If you add all the extra DB >knowledge, the program will be even slower. With no forward pruning/selective >search, the depth will be even less. With all the extensions DB did, the depth >would be still less. I suspect that CS Tal's evaluation function does more work than DB's. I actually have evidence. And so far, nobody's been able to prove me wrong. Also, there's no reason why you can't use the DB eval function with a search function that's more appropriate for a PC. >But you're asking why Hsu doesn't do it? Here's what I think would happen: >It would probably sell a bunch. So what? It won't perform very well, and the >anti-DB stuff will be even worse. A lot of people won't really understand the >speed difference between this and the real DB; they will call DB weak and >stupid. People who already think DB wasn't very good will have their opinion >reinforced. It's pretty much a no-win situation for Hsu. Besides the money, >which he probably doesn't need (or may not care about, if you consider the >above), there is absolutely no motivation for him to do something like this. People are already calling DB weak and stupid left and right. Most of the fire that he's coming under is simply because he isn't releasing DB information/games. If he actually releases a program, I suspect that people will gain much more respect for him. Right now, everybody is bitter because all they have access to is hype. -Tom
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