The future of Winboard

[Dan Honeycutt]

This is prompted by several recent posts here and in CCC. There is now a proposal for a new interface. I don't think this is the best way to go, but I do think it's time for a protover 3. I've felt for some time that Tim Mann's uncertain status is an impediment to Winboard moving foreward. What is needed is for someone to take over the reins. But who?

My first thought was that the ideal candidate would be Fabien Letouzey. No question he knows engine interface as well or better than anyone. But I read that he is busy with other activities and does not expect to devote much time to chess programming for a while.

My second choice for a nominee, reinforced by the fact that he has lately been "tinkering" with Winboard, is Alessandro Scotti. His credentials in the GUI/interface area may not be as strong as Fabien's but I know he knows how to program; he has shared with me his threaded input and pgn parsing code.

Of course the first question is if Allesandro is interested. If he is, what do others think? Allesandro is a modest person, I don't think he would be hurt if you think he is a lousy choice. But, if you do, who else would you suggest?

Regards
Dan H.

[Dann Corbit]

It's an open source project.

Anyone who wants to can jump right in.

We do not depend on Tim Mann for anything.

If you (or others) have good ideas for a chess interface, then by all means put them in.

I will be happy to contribute database work if people want that.

At some point, I plan to introduce a database interface for chess programs (along with some implementations) that will demonstrate the utility of storing things in that way.

This information could be bolted onto Winboard or Arena or something else. The idea is just to make something portable, consistent and simple.

[Dan Honeycutt]

It's an open source project.

Anyone who wants to can jump right in.

We do not depend on Tim Mann for anything.

I understand that, but I think if there is no leader, coordinator or something of that sort then there is no direction and no real progress. Just my 2 cents.

Best
Dan H.

[Alessandro Scotti]

Hi Dan,
I agree with you on the need of updating Winboard as a GUI and protocol, and the need for some sort of management or coordination too. At present my job and familty don't leave me with enough time to be really useful in such an important project, although I will definitely try to contribute if/when things start rolling...

[Dan Honeycutt]

Hi Dan,
I agree with you on the need of updating Winboard as a GUI and protocol, and the need for some sort of management or coordination too. At present my job and familty don't leave me with enough time to be really useful in such an important project, although I will definitely try to contribute if/when things start rolling...

Fair enough. Family and providing for your family are far more important than this addictive hobby of ours. Keep "tinkering" when you have a chance and, at such time as an upgraded Winboard does take some direction, I'm sure you can make a valuable contribution.

Best
Dan H.

[Alessandro Scotti]

...but what about you Dan? You would definitely get my vote!

P.S. I left you a private message with more info...

[Dan Honeycutt]

...but what about you Dan? You would definitely get my vote!

P.S. I left you a private message with more info...

I saw your message where you said basically the same as above - too little time with job & family. Was there another?

As for me, I have no GUI experience and wouldn't know a pipe if it walked up and bit me in the ass.

Best
Dan H.

[Alessandro Scotti]

I saw your message where you said basically the same as above - too little time with job & family. Was there another?

As for me, I have no GUI experience and wouldn't know a pipe if it walked up and bit me in the ass.

Best
Dan H.

Hi Dan,
just checking, I've had no answer to my latest PM's and I was curious whether there could be technical glitches or people is just ignoring me. IMO coordinating such a project would be a managerial role where no technical knowledge or experience is necessary, it could even hurt in fact.
However, it seems there is not much interest in the community...

[Dan Honeycutt]

Hi Allessandro
No technical glitch - I got the PM as well as an email notification. I just answered in the thread to kill two birds with one stone.

I agree that interest seems low. Maybe a few added features and tweaks like you have been doing are all that people are interested in.

Best
Dan H.

[Volker Pittlik]

...
I agree that interest seems low. Maybe a few added features and tweaks like you have been doing are all that people are interested in.

Best
Dan H.

Maybe we should create a list of features to be kept, to be added to be dropped and how importatnt these features are. It is also important how many volunteers are around to implement this features.

My first attempt:

(1 = most important / urgent)
(2 = important / urgent)
(3 = nice to have / can wait )

Code: Select all

Feature                         Importance            Urgency

UCI support                         1                    2
Enhancement of GUI                  2                    2
Support of variants                 3                    3
Tournament management               3                    3


Some features should not be removed as the excellent interaction with ICSs and running under Linux and Windows.

"Enhancement of GUI" is not specific enough. TLCV has offers some information I miss in Winboard. For example the PVs of both engines are displayed seperately. For me that is most interesting. Very useful is the display of the counter "how many moves to 50-moves-rule-draw". Display of time control is nice, but I usually know this.

Regards

Volker

[Fabien Letouzey]

My first thought was that the ideal candidate would be Fabien Letouzey. No question he knows engine interface as well or better than anyone. But I read that he is busy with other activities and does not expect to devote much time to chess programming for a while.

The main problem in my case is limited access to Internet. I can hardly participate in online discussions for instance, email would be better.

I hope to be able to discuss protocol-based matters in some way though.

Luckily there are many other experienced users with sharp eyes, like Dieter.

The problem that I see is not technical, but that different people are looking for different things in protocols. WinBoard is all about competition in the strict sense (FIDE definition of a chess player, etc ...) whereas UCI is more about software quality, code re-use etc ...

Regarding WinBoard software development (not protocol), don't count me in. The code is too old IMO.

Fabien.