"Master Level Chess" for the iPhone

[Tord Romstad]

Several people has made me aware that there is a new commercial iPhone chess program, Master Level Chess, that is little more than a copy of iPhone Glaurung with a few new piece sets and a couple of changed lines of text in the "About" dialog. The program appears to be available for free right now -- for a limited period of time -- so please download it and have a look yourself if you want.

Because I've received numerous e-mails about Master Level Chess, and because there is already a discussion about it on another popular computer chess message board, I'll state my opinion here. The below text is copied from a post I wrote on the Computer Schach und Spiele message board earlier this afternoon, with some minor edits:

I haven't downloaded Master Level Chess, but based on the information I have seen, there is little doubt that the program is technically legal. Glaurung is free software. This means, among other things, that you are free to use it as a basis for your own software, as long as all users/customers are given access to the source code (including all your modifications), and the freedom to use it themselves under the conditions of the GPL. In this case, it seems that the source code hasn't been changed at all. The "About" dialog still contains links to the GPL license text and to the Glaurung source code, so everything seems to be all right.

Whether it is ethical is another question. I don't mind the existence of Master Level Chess myself, and I don't feel that the authors (or "authors") are stealing anything from me. After all, Glaurung is free anyway, so I don't lose any money. On the other hand, I do understand if some customers feel a little pissed if they pay for something and then discover that it doesn't add anything of value compared to a free product. Because I am hardly a neutral party, I am not the right person to judge whether the improved graphics in Master Level Chess is worth the small amount of money they charge. If you like Master Level Chess better than Glaurung, and think it is worth the money, that's great. If, on the other hand, you think it is a blatant ripoff, just express your opinion by a negative review, or complain to Apple.

I also don't know whether Master Level Chess breaks any of the rules for the iPhone App Store. Again, this is not for me to decide. My personal opinion about Master Level Chess simply doesn't matter; the concerned parties are Inner Four, Inc (who earns money from the product), the customers (who pay for the product), and Apple (who makes it available, and also earns some money). If Inner Four, Inc is stealing something, it's from you, not from me.

There is one thing that does annoy me, though: It seems that Inner Four, Inc hasn't bothered to change the support e-mail address, so all e-mails go to me.

Finally, even if some of you do prefer Master Level Chess, I advise you not to delete Glaurung quite yet. There'll probably be a new version soon.

[Harvey Williamson]

I also don't know whether Master Level Chess breaks any of the rules for the iPhone App Store. Again, this is not for me to decide. My personal opinion about Master Level Chess simply doesn't matter; the concerned parties are Inner Four, Inc (who earns money from the product), the customers (who pay for the product), and Apple (who makes it available, and also earns some money). If Inner Four, Inc is stealing something, it's from you, not from me. r

Hi Tord,

Except that Apple are unlikely to take any action no matter how many complaints they receive unless they receive one from you.

Happy New year,
Harvey

[Gian-Carlo Pascutto]

I haven't downloaded Master Level Chess, but based on the information I have seen, there is little doubt that the program is technically legal.

In fact, it's not possible to put a GPL app on the iPhone store, and this is pretty well documented, see for example:
http://www.linux.com/archive/feature/131752

The problem is that Apple's licensing, which you must agree to before putting something on there, clashes with the GPL.

Now, in addition to that, in this case the entire app is a derived work of Glaurung, and hence falls under GPL. Yet they provide only the source for Glaurung, so they're already violating the GPL.

In any case, none of that matters if the original author doesn't care, and it seems you don't. Which makes me wonder why you used GPL in the first place.

[M ANSARI]

I think that is a rip off even if it is free. You spent time on that program and you should get the credit, not some ahole who changes a few lines and claims it as his hard work. You owe it to yourself and to whoever downloads and enjoys the program to let them know.

By the way what is the name of Glaurung for the iphone in the Application store?

[Harvey Williamson]

I think that is a rip off even if it is free. You spent time on that program and you should get the credit, not some ahole who changes a few lines and claims it as his hard work. You owe it to yourself and to whoever downloads and enjoys the program to let them know.

By the way what is the name of Glaurung for the iphone in the Application store?

Agreed. It is called Glaurung works very well on my iphone and is very nice! Almost as nice as iPhone Hiarcs

[Zach Wegner]

Several people has made me aware that there is a new commercial iPhone chess program, Master Level Chess, that is little more than a copy of iPhone Glaurung with a few new piece sets and a couple of changed lines of text in the "About" dialog. The program appears to be available for free right now -- for a limited period of time -- so please download it and have a look yourself if you want.

Because I've received numerous e-mails about Master Level Chess, and because there is already a discussion about it on another popular computer chess message board, I'll state my opinion here. The below text is copied from a post I wrote on the Computer Schach und Spiele message board earlier this afternoon, with some minor edits:

I haven't downloaded Master Level Chess, but based on the information I have seen, there is little doubt that the program is technically legal. Glaurung is free software. This means, among other things, that you are free to use it as a basis for your own software, as long as all users/customers are given access to the source code (including all your modifications), and the freedom to use it themselves under the conditions of the GPL. In this case, it seems that the source code hasn't been changed at all. The "About" dialog still contains links to the GPL license text and to the Glaurung source code, so everything seems to be all right.

Whether it is ethical is another question. I don't mind the existence of Master Level Chess myself, and I don't feel that the authors (or "authors") are stealing anything from me. After all, Glaurung is free anyway, so I don't lose any money. On the other hand, I do understand if some customers feel a little pissed if they pay for something and then discover that it doesn't add anything of value compared to a free product. Because I am hardly a neutral party, I am not the right person to judge whether the improved graphics in Master Level Chess is worth the small amount of money they charge. If you like Master Level Chess better than Glaurung, and think it is worth the money, that's great. If, on the other hand, you think it is a blatant ripoff, just express your opinion by a negative review, or complain to Apple.

I also don't know whether Master Level Chess breaks any of the rules for the iPhone App Store. Again, this is not for me to decide. My personal opinion about Master Level Chess simply doesn't matter; the concerned parties are Inner Four, Inc (who earns money from the product), the customers (who pay for the product), and Apple (who makes it available, and also earns some money). If Inner Four, Inc is stealing something, it's from you, not from me.

There is one thing that does annoy me, though: It seems that Inner Four, Inc hasn't bothered to change the support e-mail address, so all e-mails go to me.

Finally, even if some of you do prefer Master Level Chess, I advise you not to delete Glaurung quite yet. There'll probably be a new version soon.

Wow, what a crappy app. The new piece sets are really bad, and they don't even use the old ones (which were quite decent). I wrote a review for it though, which should arrive soon.

[Zach Wegner]

Several people has made me aware that there is a new commercial iPhone chess program, Master Level Chess, that is little more than a copy of iPhone Glaurung with a few new piece sets and a couple of changed lines of text in the "About" dialog. The program appears to be available for free right now -- for a limited period of time -- so please download it and have a look yourself if you want.

Because I've received numerous e-mails about Master Level Chess, and because there is already a discussion about it on another popular computer chess message board, I'll state my opinion here. The below text is copied from a post I wrote on the Computer Schach und Spiele message board earlier this afternoon, with some minor edits:

I haven't downloaded Master Level Chess, but based on the information I have seen, there is little doubt that the program is technically legal. Glaurung is free software. This means, among other things, that you are free to use it as a basis for your own software, as long as all users/customers are given access to the source code (including all your modifications), and the freedom to use it themselves under the conditions of the GPL. In this case, it seems that the source code hasn't been changed at all. The "About" dialog still contains links to the GPL license text and to the Glaurung source code, so everything seems to be all right.

Whether it is ethical is another question. I don't mind the existence of Master Level Chess myself, and I don't feel that the authors (or "authors") are stealing anything from me. After all, Glaurung is free anyway, so I don't lose any money. On the other hand, I do understand if some customers feel a little pissed if they pay for something and then discover that it doesn't add anything of value compared to a free product. Because I am hardly a neutral party, I am not the right person to judge whether the improved graphics in Master Level Chess is worth the small amount of money they charge. If you like Master Level Chess better than Glaurung, and think it is worth the money, that's great. If, on the other hand, you think it is a blatant ripoff, just express your opinion by a negative review, or complain to Apple.

I also don't know whether Master Level Chess breaks any of the rules for the iPhone App Store. Again, this is not for me to decide. My personal opinion about Master Level Chess simply doesn't matter; the concerned parties are Inner Four, Inc (who earns money from the product), the customers (who pay for the product), and Apple (who makes it available, and also earns some money). If Inner Four, Inc is stealing something, it's from you, not from me.

There is one thing that does annoy me, though: It seems that Inner Four, Inc hasn't bothered to change the support e-mail address, so all e-mails go to me.

Finally, even if some of you do prefer Master Level Chess, I advise you not to delete Glaurung quite yet. There'll probably be a new version soon.

Oh yes, and since you're coming out with a new version, some feature requests.

--Separate buttons for new game as white and black. The white/black settings are hidden too far away.
--The ability to send an entire PGN file through email, preferably as an attachment.
--Have the strength level be a slider bar, instead of the exact number selection it is now. This should also be in Elo, even if the calibration is not exact.
--SMP support. Oh wait, nevermind.

Anyways, thanks a lot for your hard work. It's a really nice app--the first one I downloaded as soon as I got my iPhone.

[Tord Romstad]

In fact, it's not possible to put a GPL app on the iPhone store, and this is pretty well documented, see for example:
http://www.linux.com/archive/feature/131752

Virtually all the information on that page is extremely outdated, and no longer correct. In particular, everyone with a valid e-mail address can now sign up for a developer account and download the iPhone SDK, and the NDA for the SDK and code developed with it was lifted more than one and a half year ago. It is still true that installing and running the program on an actual device is annoyingly complicated for anyone except the official developer (unless you have a jailbroken device, which is pretty much a necessity for any serious development anyway, IMHO), but everyone can easily run it in the iPhone simulator on a Mac.

GPLed programs on the iPhone aren't that uncommon. I'm sure there are still some people that argue that it is against the letter or spirit of the GPL, but is far from an universally held position, and in any rate I would be very surprised if someone ever sued me for distributing my iPhone app under the GPL. It would be the most victimless crime I've ever heard of.

Now, in addition to that, in this case the entire app is a derived work of Glaurung, and hence falls under GPL. Yet they provide only the source for Glaurung, so they're already violating the GPL.

No, they aren't: The point is that the source code doesn't appear to have been changed at all. Every single byte of the source code is identical to Glaurung. They have replaced the .PNG bitmap files for the chess pieces and the application icon, that's all. It is true that if they made any changes to the source code, they would have to make the changes available. So far, there is absolutely nothing that indicates that they have changed anything.

In any case, none of that matters if the original author doesn't care, and it seems you don't. Which makes me wonder why you used GPL in the first place.

Because it is the most appropriate for my personal goals in computer chess. And I do care that people respect the license, I just don't see any evidence that it has been broken in this case.

[Tord Romstad]

Oh yes, and since you're coming out with a new version, some feature requests.

--Separate buttons for new game as white and black. The white/black settings are hidden too far away.

This is beginning to annoy me as well, so the chances are good that I will do something about it before releasing the new version.

--The ability to send an entire PGN file through email, preferably as an attachment.

I am a little less sure about this one, at least for the next version. I plan much more sophisticated PGN handling later (including the frequently requested ability to transfer PGNs from the computer to the iPhone), but that's a little further down the road.

--Have the strength level be a slider bar, instead of the exact number selection it is now. This should also be in Elo, even if the calibration is not exact.

The strength level actually used to be a slider bar, in early beta versions before the first public release. The problem was that it didn't work as well as expected: The slider widget in the iPhone SDK is just too slow when running on a device (it worked great in the simulator). If I continuously updated the number representing the strength while the slider was dragged, the slider bar would be so laggy and choppy that it was almost unusable. Updating the number only when the slider was released worked fine, but made it too possible to adjust the strength exactly to the desired level.

The strength is in Elo in the current development version, and probably reasonably accurate at the highest levels, and horribly inaccurate at the lower levels.

--SMP support. Oh wait, nevermind.

I expect to have this ready shortly after you can buy an iPhone with more than one CPU core.

Anyways, thanks a lot for your hard work. It's a really nice app--the first one I downloaded as soon as I got my iPhone.

Thanks for the feature requests, and thanks (to you and everybody else) for the kind words!

[mcostalba]

In any case, none of that matters if the original author doesn't care, and it seems you don't. Which makes me wonder why you used GPL in the first place.

I don't think it is true. GPL license can be enforced by anyone and a violation reported by anyone. See:

http://www.softwarefreedom.org/blog/200 ... reporting/


Tord is not interested becasue he has no business in iPhone apps, but I think people that legally sells its chess engine product for iPhone could be adversely affected by such a producer, so I think they _could_ evaluate a possible action to take becasue detect and report violation of GPL license is not a right granted only to the original author.