Glider (Conway's Life)
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The glider is a pattern in Conway's Game of Life. It was first discovered by Richard K. Guy. It is the smallest spaceship, and it travels diagonally at a speed of c/4. The glider is often produced from randomly-generated starting configurations.
The glider is important to the Game of Life because of its use. Gliders are easily produced. They can then be collided to form more complicated objects. Gliders are also useful to transmit information over long distances.
Eric S. Raymond has proposed the glider as an emblem to represent hackers because:
- The glider was "born at almost the same time as the Internet and Unix".
- The Game of Life appeals to hackers.
- There are similarities between the Game of Life and the open source community.
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