Saved Altair 4K BASIC

Date sent: Mon, 9 Nov 1998 11:53:04 -0500 (EST) Send reply to: classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu From: cswiger &lt;cswiger(a)wilma.widomaker.com&gt; To: "Discussion re-collecting of classic computers" &lt;classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu&gt; Subject: Saved Altair 4K BASIC <<snip>> Considering that BASIC was a language developed and written by somebody else, and that Gates & Allen simply took someone else's language and adapted it for a specific machine (like, say, for example, QDOS) (OK, they paid a little for it. But it started out as someone else's..) it still seems kinda odd that he would get so bent out of shape about somebody stealing a copy of the program that he himself stole. But who are we to question. He managed to turn that skill into a tidy sum. I love the comment someone on the list made about hiring 10,000 programmers and deluging the market with bad software. The only problem is, everyone just said "OK, Bill. Here's my checking account. Don't worry about fixing the bugs -- kinda gives your software 'character'." Paul Braun NerdWare -- The History of the PC and the Nerds who brought it to you. nerdware(a)laidbak.com www.laidbak.com/nerdware