Return to BSD News archive
Xref: sserve comp.unix.bsd:3613 misc.int-property:386
Path: sserve!manuel!munnari.oz.au!samsung!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!menudo.uh.edu!sugar!taronga!peter
From: peter@taronga.com (Peter da Silva)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd,misc.int-property
Subject: Re: Poisoned textbooks and net articles?
Message-ID: <DR9I8Y@taronga.com>
Date: 13 Aug 92 02:12:12 GMT
References: <7154@skye.ed.ac.uk> <1992Aug12.041630@eklektix.com> <7172@skye.ed.ac.uk>
Organization: Taronga Park BBS
Lines: 17
In article <7172@skye.ed.ac.uk> jeff@aiai.ed.ac.uk (Jeff Dalton) writes:
>(2) Suppose I find out about an algorithm by reading a textbook.
>How much does my implementation have to differ from the one in
>the book? Should I stay away from textbooks that give code and
>look for ones that give only informal or mathematical descriptions?
Well, at least one program was removed from the net after someone at
AT&T claimed the author had stolen the troff hyphenation code. The
author claims he implemented it from scratch based on a technical paper
he read.
So even if you're in the right it doesn't mean they won't sue you.
--
`-_-'
Have you hugged your wolf today? 'U`
Peter da Silva, Taronga Park BBS, Houston, TX +1 713 568 0480/1032