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Chyist Dec 7, 1998 N
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========================================================================= Date: Mon, 7 Dec 1998 17:29:42 -0800
Reply-To: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> Sender: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> From: Martin Minow <minow@POBOX.COM>
Subject: Re: Earliest "free software"
X-cc: kyle@rtoads.com
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______________________________________________________________________
Community Memory: Discussion List on the History of Cyberspace ______________________________________________________________________
kyle@rtoads.com writes:
>
>The particular irony of the Gates letter is that BASIC was (and is) a public domain language. Microsoft's proprietary version of something that was already free does indeed indicate a major demarcation between the hacker ethic and the copyright crackdown ethic that now dominates commercial software.
It should be pointed out that there is a distinction between the BASIC language and some particular BASIC *implementation* -- the latter may provide substantial revenue to a company. Dec, for example, offered a high-performance timesharing system that was programmed (almost) exclusively in a version of BASIC that, thirty years later, may still be regarded as "state of the art."
The microcomputer community had, essentially, three options:
1. Buy Microsoft (or some other proprietary) BASIC. 2. Write a public-domain (or Open Source) BASIC, possibly
based on Tiny Basic (published in an early Dr. Dobbs Journal). 3. Copy Microsoft BASIC from a friend.
Ignoring the obvious legal implications, option 3 (a quality product for free) is the clear short-term economic winner since it requires minimal skill on the part of the "customer."
Martin Minow
minow@pobox.com
______________________________________________________________________
Reply-To: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> Sender: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> From: Martin Minow <minow@POBOX.COM>
Subject: Re: Earliest "free software"
X-cc: kyle@rtoads.com
In-Reply-To: <199812071541.IAA03770@kitsune.swcp.com> MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
______________________________________________________________________
Community Memory: Discussion List on the History of Cyberspace ______________________________________________________________________
kyle@rtoads.com writes:
>
>The particular irony of the Gates letter is that BASIC was (and is) a public domain language. Microsoft's proprietary version of something that was already free does indeed indicate a major demarcation between the hacker ethic and the copyright crackdown ethic that now dominates commercial software.
It should be pointed out that there is a distinction between the BASIC language and some particular BASIC *implementation* -- the latter may provide substantial revenue to a company. Dec, for example, offered a high-performance timesharing system that was programmed (almost) exclusively in a version of BASIC that, thirty years later, may still be regarded as "state of the art."
The microcomputer community had, essentially, three options:
1. Buy Microsoft (or some other proprietary) BASIC. 2. Write a public-domain (or Open Source) BASIC, possibly
based on Tiny Basic (published in an early Dr. Dobbs Journal). 3. Copy Microsoft BASIC from a friend.
Ignoring the obvious legal implications, option 3 (a quality product for free) is the clear short-term economic winner since it requires minimal skill on the part of the "customer."
Martin Minow
minow@pobox.com
______________________________________________________________________
