Floater

(Free Bridge On The Net!)

A new, free program that will allow people to play bridge over the internet is currently under development. The program is tentatively named "Floater" and is being tested now by its author and a few friends. We expect a preliminary release to be available to the public by the middle of March, 1996.

Floater is similar in design and spirit to the original free version of OKBridge. The preliminary release of Floater is expected to include:

• Matchpoint pairs and IMP pairs (in the style of OKBridge)
• Two-table team games
• Non-duplicate bridge (e.g. Chicago or Rubber bridge)
• The ability to play all of the above even if the Floater server in Berkeley is temporarily down due to net problems, earthquakes, etc.
• Two user interfaces: textual and graphical (the latter requires X)

Information will be posted to rec.games.bridge and right here.

(For those unfamiliar with Floater's competitors, the idea is to allow people to play against people via the internet. Floater is not like, say, Bridge Baron, where you have a computer partner and play against computer opponents.)

Floater is being developed under the auspices of Laconic, a group dedicated to making available technology useful and inexpensive. We expect that our first few projects (Floater being the first) will be pieces of software that are free. Laconic is in the process of becoming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Q: Who is doing this? Why?

A: I am Geoff Pike, a Computer Science graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley. I felt that someone should do a good free internet bridge game, and I felt I am one of the few people with the necessary time, inclination, and programming skills. Obviously, I also love bridge or I wouldn't be doing it!

Q: Why should people be excited by Floater?

A: Many reasons:

• It will offer essentially the same features as OKBridge, Bridge Player Live, etc., plus a few extra features.
• Competition is healthy. We hardly expect to force OKBridge et al. out of business (nor is that our goal). But any exciting features we have that they do not have will put pressure on them to improve their programs as well. Furthermore, you can imagine they will have to think twice as hard about their high prices.
• In general, the huge growth in popularity and commercialization of the internet over the past few years is somewhat scary. Floater is a throwback to the old cooperative and fun spirit of the net. An internet bridge game isn't an impossibly difficult project. (Heck, it's a glorified version of the `talk' program.)
• Did I mention it's free?

Q: What can other people do to help Floater succeed?

A: For the next month obviously my focus is on getting the program in shape for the preliminary release. I have friends lined up to help with the early stages of testing, so I am not looking for beta testers. Once the preliminary release is available, you can help by doing the following:

• Test the preliminary release. Is it easy to install? Is it easy to use? How's the documentation? Give me comments and suggestions.
• Use the preliminary release. Have fun with it. Help establish a friendly atmosphere on Floater.
• Ask your service provider to install it, thus making it more widely available.