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Re: computer history

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On Sat, 18 Jul 2015, Johnny B Good wrote:

> On Fri, 17 Jul 2015 22:24:52 +0000, True Satan wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 17 Jul 2015 12:42:51 -0400, Bill Cun
>>>     I have *never* known Microsoft to come out with /anything/
>>>     original.
>>> Silverlight was copied I think from Adobe's (or I guess I should say
>>> Macromedia) Flashplayer. C# and .NET from Jim Gosling's Java. Nope
>>> never anthing original.
>>>
>>> Bill
>>
>> Bill,
>>
>> I wonder if you know that even MSDOS owes an awful lot to the earlier
>> CPM and that Excel owes yet another huge debt to Multiplan that MS
>> bought from an outside company...come to think of it they bought in the
>> first upderpinnings of Word rather that developing them in house.
>>
>
> As far as PCDOS goes, the custom version supplied to IBM for their
> fledgling PC by Microsoft, this was based on a port of CP/M86 that Bill
> had bought in from a small Seattle software house (it might even have
> been a one man band outfit) where the syntax and error messages were made
> more fit for 'normal human consumption'.
>
> Bill Gates somehow managed to get out of his contract with IBM, at least
> to the extent where he could sell a Microsoft branded and improved
> version of PCDOS that we now refer to as MSDOS. After that success, Bill
> never so much as glanced back as his company went from strength to
> strength on the back of IBM's and other's work as his company swept to
> world domination in the PC desktop OS and software markets. The rest is a
> history that most of us are only too familiar with (or should be if they
> haven't been hiding under a rock these past 25 years or so).
>
I don't think that started with MS-DOS.

In the beginning, he somehow sold that BASIC to MITS without letting them 
have it exclusively.  I thought there was some conflict at the beginning
they thinking he worked for them, he thinking something else.  But either 
through scheming or design, he retained the rights.

So he could turn around and sell it to other companies.  IN some cases, 
he'd sell the company fairly good conditions.  OSI kept using the same 
BASIC, bugs and all, because they had the rights, but if they modified it 
or had Microsoft modify it, it would cost them.  Or so I gather.  So it 
was a good thing the BASIC in ROM was flexible enough.

Radio Shack got some other good deal.  When the Color COmputer III came 
out, they had that original CoCo BASIC in ROM, and then had Microware add 
soem code to modify it for the III's new hardware.  If I recall properly, 
what was in ROM was the same as the ROM in the original CoCo, so 
Microware's code moved it to RAM and modified it there.  It was something 
like that, again a liberal set of rights that Radio Shack bought, but too 
costly to go back and ask for a revision  I assume the Dragon from the UK, 
which was a clone of the CoCo, used the same BASIC from Microsoft, another 
case of MS selling the code to multiple places.

So I think by the time the IBM deal came along, Microsoft expected to 
retain the rights to the code, even if (for a price) IBM got liberal 
rights at a cheap price.

I seem to recall Microsoft selling the source code at one point to their 
BASIC, if you were willing to pay enough.  Not just the source code, but 
the right to modify it for use within the company.  I may be mixing that 
up with some other company, but I think they had flexible pricing (and 
levels of what you could buy) so long as you were willing to pay the 
price.  But I dont' think they ever sold off exclusive rights.

   Michael

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computer history "Bill Cunningham" <nospam@nspam.invalid> - 2015-07-13 14:38 -0400
  Re: computer history Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2015-07-13 18:52 +0000
    Re: computer history Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2015-07-13 20:56 +0000
  Re: computer history Andy Burns <usenet.feb2014@adslpipe.co.uk> - 2015-07-13 19:54 +0100
  Re: computer history Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2015-07-13 16:32 -0400
    Re: computer history "Kerr Mudd-John" <admin@127.0.0.1> - 2015-07-14 10:39 +0100
      Re: computer history Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2015-07-14 18:16 -0300
        Re: computer history Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2015-07-15 08:06 +0000
          Re: computer history Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2015-07-15 11:34 +0200
            Re: computer history Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2015-07-15 10:29 +0000
              Re: computer history Dan Espen <despen@verizon.net> - 2015-07-15 10:52 -0400
                Re: computer history Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2015-07-15 14:54 +0000
              Re: computer history Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2015-07-15 12:53 +0200
          Re: computer history "Bill Cunningham" <nospam@nspam.invalid> - 2015-07-16 16:52 -0400
            Re: computer history Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net> - 2015-07-16 22:50 +0100
              Re: computer history "Bill Cunningham" <nospam@nspam.invalid> - 2015-07-17 12:42 -0400
                Re: computer history Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2015-07-17 13:58 -0400
                Re: computer history Nyssa <Nyssa@flawlesslogic.com> - 2015-07-17 14:17 -0400
                Re: computer history Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2015-07-17 15:43 -0400
                Re: computer history Nyssa <Nyssa@flawlesslogic.com> - 2015-07-18 11:05 -0400
                Re: computer history mm0fmf <none@mailinator.com> - 2015-07-20 20:17 +0100
                Re: computer history Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> - 2015-07-18 09:46 -0400
                Re: computer history Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net> - 2015-07-18 14:48 +0100
                Re: computer history scott@alfter.diespammersdie.us (Scott Alfter) - 2015-07-17 18:30 +0000
                Re: computer history Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2015-07-17 15:49 -0400
                Re: computer history Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2015-07-22 15:09 +0000
                Re: computer history True Satan <true_satan@fastmail.co.uk> - 2015-07-17 22:24 +0000
                Re: computer history Johnny B Good <johnny-b-good@invalid.ntlworld.com> - 2015-07-18 00:45 +0000
                Re: computer history Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2015-07-17 23:59 -0400
                Re: computer history Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2015-07-18 09:46 +0000
                Re: computer history Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2015-07-18 09:42 +0000
                Re: computer history "Bill Cunningham" <nospam@nspam.invalid> - 2015-07-20 13:48 -0400
                Re: computer history mm0fmf <none@mailinator.com> - 2015-07-20 20:43 +0100
                Re: computer history RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2015-07-21 10:31 +0300
                Re: computer history "Bill Cunningham" <nospam@nspam.invalid> - 2015-07-25 13:47 -0400
                Re: computer history Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net> - 2015-07-25 22:04 +0100
                Re: computer history Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2015-07-22 15:08 +0000
                Re: computer history Johnny B Good <johnny-b-good@invalid.ntlworld.com> - 2015-07-22 18:43 +0000
              Re: computer history Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2015-07-18 02:25 +0200
                Re: computer history Johnny B Good <johnny-b-good@invalid.ntlworld.com> - 2015-07-18 01:01 +0000
                Re: computer history Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2015-07-18 10:43 +0200
            Re: computer history Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2015-07-16 22:00 +0000
              Re: computer history "Bill Cunningham" <nospam@nspam.invalid> - 2015-07-17 12:44 -0400
                Re: computer history Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2015-07-17 17:58 +0000
    Re: computer history "Bill Cunningham" <nospam@nspam.invalid> - 2015-07-14 12:36 -0400

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