Difference between revisions of "Bill Gates"
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==Gates' "Open Letter to Hobbyists"== | ==Gates' "Open Letter to Hobbyists"== | ||
Contrary to the [[Hacker Ethic]] of the previous period, Microsoft and MITS felt that people should pay for the BASIC software just as they paid for any add-on card. Many hackers had in fact put in orders for BASIC, but had to wait for the order to be shipped due to the backlog at MITS. During a show put up by MITS, someone got hold of and copied a paper tape containing Altair BASIC. The tapes were duplicated and passed around freely. Since Gates and Allen were actually paid a commission for each copy of BASIC that MITS sold, Gates responded by writing his now-famous “Open Letter to Hobbyists.” Gates' message was that what hackers called "sharing" should be considered "stealing." | Contrary to the [[Hacker Ethic]] of the previous period, Microsoft and MITS felt that people should pay for the BASIC software just as they paid for any add-on card. Many hackers had in fact put in orders for BASIC, but had to wait for the order to be shipped due to the backlog at MITS. During a show put up by MITS, someone got hold of and copied a paper tape containing Altair BASIC. The tapes were duplicated and passed around freely. Since Gates and Allen were actually paid a commission for each copy of BASIC that MITS sold, Gates responded by writing his now-famous “Open Letter to Hobbyists.” Gates' message was that what hackers called "sharing" should be considered "stealing." | ||
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| + | ==Gates and MS-DOS== | ||
| + | The first generation of microcomputers used an operating system called CP/M. When the creator of CP/M failed to negotiate an agreement with IBM, Bill Gates and Microsoft signed a contract with IBM to provide an alternative operating system for the IBM personal computer, which became MS-DOS. The creator of CP/M claimed that the initial operating system provided by Microsoft was in fact only a modified version of CP/M. | ||
==Links== | ==Links== | ||
