On Wed, 2 Dec 2020, Ian Shaw wrote:
I think XG has gained in popularity over gnubg mainly because it is
faster, and only marginally because of the slight playing strength
advantage.
I think it's hard to be sure why XG has gained in popularity over GNUBG,
but I would agree with you that the playing strength probably doesn't have
much to do with it. The USGBGF endorses XG so I would guess that has an
influence.
http://usbgf.org/learn-backgammon/backgammon-resources/software-2/
People tend to use what other people tell them to use.
Also I recall that there was a period of time when there were problems
with the GNU Backgammon website and finding the right thing to download,
etc.
But being free is always a plus, and now that Xavier seems to have all but
abandoned XG, there could be an opportunity for GNU to regain ground, if
there is the desire for that.
Tim
