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  •   over 4 years ago

PyTorch Developer Tools & Libraries - category question

I'm interested in making an open source project using Torch and there is something like that already on GitHub but not been very active for the last 2 years. Will my contribution to that project qualify me for this prize or it should be a brand new project that I create from scratch? Thanks

  • 5 comments

  • Manager   •   over 4 years ago

    Hi Suyash!

    Thanks for reaching out. This is a really good question. Can you share a link to the original project and also explain what you plan to do as a submission? I'll want to look into it a little better to give you the best answer. Feel free to email me the specifics if you don't want to post the project plans here publicly: stefanie @ devpost.com

    Thanks!
    Stef

  •   •   over 4 years ago

    I am seeing a few projects but don't want to disclose that since it's a competition. Let me just say that these projects are under official 'pytorch' org and not very actively maintained so I want to contribute to them. Can the hackathon judges/organizers please advise? It would be better to get a reply here so others can be aware of the same. Thanks

  • Manager   •   over 4 years ago

    Hi - I understand, but in a sense it depends. It's actually a tricky question :)

    First, the rules say:

    INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: All aspects of the Entrant Content must be solely owned by, or licensed to, the Entrant or in the public domain. All third-party content not owned by, or licensed to, the Entrant is prohibited, unless such content is in the public domain. Sponsor may request written proof of ownership of, or adequate license to Entrant, of any Entrant Content and Entrants agree to provide same (or proof thereof) in a timely manner in a format acceptable to Sponsor. Failure to timely provide adequate proof of ownership or sufficient license rights in any content included in the Entrant Content (as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion) may result in the Entrant being disqualified and related Entry deemed void.

    Because of this, open source could be considered public domain. The question then is if you are making significant improvements that would make it your own project versus submitting the majority of the existing open source project and adding small changes. For 'updated" submissions, you will be asked "whether your Project is newly created during the Contest Period or was pre-existing and, if pre-existing, how you have significantly improved the Project so that researchers, developers, and/or users can benefit from the changes during the Contest Period." In the common usage, that means you, Suyash, have an existing AI project and you updated your own project for this hackathon. There are also rules around Third Party integrations.

    So long story short (or longer), it's hard to say exactly without seeing the open source project and hearing your expected plans. Code contributions can be small or large so I'd prefer to investigate before saying yes or no.

    Thanks!
    Stef

  •   •   over 4 years ago

    Hi Stef,

    This doesn't help instead it adds to the confusion. It would be helpful if the conference orgnizers would set out a clear policy on open source contributions, perhaps with examples of significant and less significant contribution. Otherwise I can be doing something valuable and later realize it won't even qualify. I don't want to provide the project name and details before hand as that might create a bias against my project and it won't be fair to others whose project will only be seen and judeged at the end of the hackathon.

    Can you give me examples of open source contributions to existing projects that will qualify for this hackathon, perhaps from the past?

    Thanks,
    Suyash

  • Manager   •   over 4 years ago

    Hi Suyash!

    We understand and are happy to answer publicly. Submitters are able to use open source tools in their projects. They nearly all do this, whether it's a language, framework, or other toolset. Your question is whether you can take an existing open source project, contribute to it, and submit it and be eligible.

    Our response is that if the project existed previously, it must’ve been created by you AND SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED during the contest period such that researchers, developers, and/or users can benefit from the update. You are however allowed, and encouraged, to use open source software WITHIN a project you create. The distinction is whether the open source software is a part of/used in a project you’re creating, OR you’re modifying an existing open source project. The former is eligible, and the latter is not – unless you created it to begin with and are significantly improving it. Open Source software must be identified. Given this is a unique question -- and most projects use open source tools in their applications, separate from what you're suggesting -- your project should detail what you built and what you forked so we can determine eligibility. If you'd like to share more, you're welcome to email us. The administrators of the competition are not the judges; we assure you we've done this for 13 years and take our fairness responsibilities seriously.

    Thank you so much,
    Stefanie

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