Peter Skinner wrote:I recently had a conversation on a chess server regarding the Ippolit/RobboLito source code and the license to it.
Who ever released this code in to the wild attached a license to it, but to make it a valid license, the author must be known. This isn't the case with that code base. The authors chose the option of ownership under pseudonyms, which means they can not be properly identified, nor would they be able to pursue copyright infringement.
If they tried, they would first have to prove they are in fact the authors of said code, and would likely fail. Anyone could claim ownership, and there's the rub. With no defined authorship, this is essentially free code. There are many examples where code has been released for anyone to use, modify, and publish. No one seems to complain in those instances. So why here?
I believe this should be classified as public domain code, and people should use it. Robert H has done just that, and improved on it. Not everyone created the wheel, but people took the design and made it better. This is exactly what happened in Houdini's instance.
While it may have started out with the Robolitto code base, it is obviously much stronger than any of the derivatives. Whether we like it or not, our sport invariably changed when the suspect source came to light. How to move forward with this change is now the difficult part.
This argument needs to end, with solutions put in place, so that tournament play can resume. As it is, our sport is dying, right before our eyes.
Just my two cents, but they sit in my very heavy hand.
Peter
If I am not mistaken, the code released by the "Decembrists" at the Ippolit forum is public domain. However, GPL was attached to versions of Robbolitto released by Norman Schmidt and Milos Stanisavljevic. I believe that the GPL would cover some, if not all, of Norman's and Milos' modifications. Any code base that included their GPL protected contributions would be subject to GPL.
Other than that, I agree. Robert has made significant contributions to Houdini's code base, if not in quantity then definitely in quality (measured in Elo and by game play by some). Some people have talent in creating a new work, others have a talent for improving existing work. Both are good in general.
And it would be much better if tournaments were again the driving force behind engine development. It generates much more excitement for the authors and the fans, IMHO.