Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!lll-winken!arisia!sgi!shinobu!odin!krypton!gavin
From: gavin@krypton.sgi.com (Gavin A. Bell)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: Rubiks Cube
Message-ID: <1776@odin.SGI.COM>
Date: 4 Dec 89 23:00:08 GMT
References: <256@<4382> <207400042@s.cs.uiuc.edu>
Sender: news@odin.SGI.COM
Lines: 26

mcooper@s.cs.uiuc.edu writes:
>Congrats on a good challenge, but Silicon Graphics gives it away as a demo
>with any of their machines.
>1) SGI doesn't give source to their demos... (or at least I've never seen it.
>   If I had, I would have modified 'Insect' to my liking long ago! :-)  )

Silicon Graphics will provide source code to most of the demos shipped
on our machines for a duplication fee and your signature on a
non-disclosure agreement (we try to keep straight ports from being
done to our competitors' hardware).  Last I heard the fee was about
$100.00.  The source code to both cube and insect is available (along
with the flight simulator, etc).

>2) As you pointed out, the interface to actually manipulate the cube on said
>   demo is a problem.  Keep in mind, though, that this was probably not 
>   written as a real cube simulation that was expected to be used with any
>   serious effort at actually SOLVING the darn thing.
Yup, originally written in 1982 for the original Silicon Graphics
machines just as a demonstration of the graphics capabilities.  User
interface design was not a priority.

>3) It will not solve the cube for you once it's scrambled.  The original note
>   suggested his program was supposed to simulate and SOLVE the cube...
Yup, the closest it comes to solving the cube is a 'reset' option.

--gavin