Glider (Conway's Life)
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The evolution and movement of a "glider".
The glider is a pattern in Conway's Game of Life that travels across the board. 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.
Gliders are important to the Game of Life because they are easily produced, can be collided with each other to form more complicated objects, and can be used to transmit information over long distances.
[edit] Hacker emblem
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.
