The halloween document...

[Jerry Feldman]

I kind of agree here. Back before PCs, operating systems were 
proprietary. IBM's OS(family) was freely available in source, mainly 
because of a consent agreement. However, application software and 
utilities were priced very high. And for some software, you could only get 
a license from IBM or another vendor which gave you the right to use the 
software when the license was in force. Back in the 70's I remember that 
IBM's sort cost about $800/year. In the 80s, I remember DEC licensing 
VAXC for about $400. As you mentioned, organizations, such as SHARE 
and GUIDE (for IBM) DECUS (for DEC) maintained libraries of free 
software. The UNIX community very early adopted large scale networking 
through USENet (via UUCP) and later via ARPAnet. Also, Linus is not an 
advocate of free software. He stated (at a BLU (when it was part of the 
BCS) meeting that he felt that thge OS and Utilities should be free, but 
applications, such as word processors should be commercial. I don't 
mind paying for a good piece of softwarethat reflects the hard work of the 
developers. When I get shareware, if I feel the product is worth it, I have 
no qualms in sending a check. But I also have no qualms in bootlegging 
software that I feel is buggy and overpriced.  

On 5 Nov 98, at 11:01, Richard Royston <richard at aoi.ultranet.com> wrote:

> I have a comment on the historical background of all this.
> 
> The belief appears to be growing that open source, or free software, were
> invented by Richard Stallman or Linus Torvalds. I don't believe that's
> really true. They both responded to contemporary pressures on free
> software in highly effective and innovative ways, but the tradition of
> free software dates back to the beginning of computers.

+----------------------------------------------+
Gerald Feldman <gaf at mediaone.net>
Boston Computer Solutions and Consulting
ICQ#156300
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