On Tue, Jun 02, 2026 at 08:41:06AM -0400, Nikolas Nyby wrote: > Hello, > Debian's gnubg package uses this patch to put the bearoff database in /var > rather than /usr. I don't see why this patch can't be included in upstream > gnubg, as /var does seem to be the right place to put this. > > I wanted to open a discussion on this though, since I am not so familiar > with how the bearoff database is used exactly.
There is an explanation about what was done in Debian (and why it is in fact not ideal) in this old message: https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-gnubg/2022-06/msg00010.html There are two databases in fact: - a two-sided database for very short bearoffs (a few chequers remaining, all in their respective inner boards), containing exact equities in money games. The racing neural net isn't expected to handle these positions properly. It is really important to have it. - a one-sided database containing an histogram of the average number of moves needed to bear off one player's chequers. Comparing the histograms of both sides gives the cubeless winning chance for the side on roll. This is an improvement to the racing neural network for relatively short races. The default databases are relatively small. The user can build larger ones. It would take a few hours for the largest supported sizes (less than 2 Gb).
