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0 pointsbryanrasmussen2y ago0 comments

>We know that isn't the case because we can see code being reproduced even with comments

If the comment is something like

//check fromIndex is greater than toIndex

then that is not any more individualistic or different than the actual function. Sadly, many people comment like this, on the other hand if it reproduced a comment with typos or something more complicated like

/* this hack is because Firefox's implementation of SVG z-indexing does not match how Chrome or Safari does it - please read this article ...url...*/

then yeah, then you would have something

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marginalia_nu2y ago

Well yeah, we've already seen exactly this:

https://twitter.com/StefanKarpinski/status/14109710611816816...

theRealMe2y ago

In almost any other scenario this would be evidence. But Fast Inverse Square Root isn’t some tightly held secret. That exact code, with those specific comments included, is found in the Wikipedia page for that algo:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_inverse_square_root

nextaccountic2y ago

The usage in Wikipedia is probably fair use, but it's still copyrighted, even without being a secret

marginalia_nu2y ago

Yeah, it's still GPL though.

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bryanrasmussenOP2y ago

OK that tracks as more than just lazy comments lookalikes.

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