My understanding is that if Mr. Rajlich took code from open source engines, it's illegal, since his engine isn't open-source. Whether it can be proven is another matter.Dirt wrote:Be careful here. This is all legal, except perhaps decompiling of closed source programs (which depends on the jurisdiction and the license it is offered under; and I've seen no evidence of Vas doing this anyhow).Tom Barrister wrote:In other words, it's not a stretch to believe that Rybka 2 stole ideas from some engines, Rybka 3 stole ideas from some more engines, or that Rybka 4 stole even more ideas from other engines.
It's quite possible that the mighty Rybka could be a mosaic of the best features of the various engines out there. It could be any or all of various things taken from:
1) The open source engines.
2) Closed source engines to which he somehow got the code, via others.
3) Closed source engines that were decompiled/reverse-engineered (or whatever the correct term is).
4) Ideas gleaned from reading various discussions or from talks with others.
Also, if Mr. Rajlich took code from closed-source engines that fall under copyright, without the permission of the copyright owner, that's also illegal.
I don't argue that taking ideas from discussion forums is legal. It was included merely to cover all bases and support my claim that it's possible that very little of Rybka's actual "nuts and bolts" was thought up by Mr. Rajlich.
My post on the Rybka forum was answered by the usual nonsense, and of course I was warned that my statement was libelous.
I helped them out by making a clearer statement. We'll see if I receive a court summons.