forbus@m.cs.uiuc.edu (07/24/90)
I'm organizing something similar to this, under AAAI sponsorship. Our goal is to make available AI programs and systems for research and educational purposes, and to enhance replicability of AI experiments. Right now it looks as if there will be two classes of entries. "Vetted" programs will have been examined by an editorial board, and tested on various machines by a corps of hackers. "Archival" programs are simply deposited, as theses are deposited with University Microfilms, with no review. Storing this kind of program is wise scientifically, since it enhances replicability. Source code only, and the authors will have to agree to some reasonable terms, basically absolving AAAI from any legal responsibility and allowing other people to use it. (We are currently looking at the Free Software Foundation's CopyLeft as a model.) Availability will be via internet, or through other media for a handling charge. All of the comments above should be taken as strictly preliminary. The design is still being debugged. Right now, I'm building up a library for qualitative physics as a test case, in order to work out the various procedural details. However, since few things are cast in concrete right now, this is an excellent time to make suggestions, if you have them. If you do, please send me email. If there is enough interest, I'll post a more detailed document here when it is written. Ken Forbus Right now: forbus@cs.uiuc.edu After August 22nd: forbus@ils.nwu.edu