BASIC
From Maze
(Difference between revisions)
(→The Ethic vs. The Corporation) | (→The Ethic vs. The Corporation) | ||
| Line 140: | Line 140: | ||
Gates and Microsoft certainly had a concept of software that would allow for it to be sold and tightly controlled by a corporation, but they were hardly seeking to eliminate hobbyist programming and the sharing of code. The company's principles did oppose the ethic of the Homebrew Computer Club and the People's Computer Company in significant ways, but Microsoft did ended up facilitating new software creation with BASIC and also facilitating the exchange of programs that Gates mentioned. Through licensing deals with computer companies, they did a great deal to bring BASIC not only out of the minicomputer time-sharing environment and onto microcomputers but also beyond the hard core of code-sharing enthusiast programmers. | Gates and Microsoft certainly had a concept of software that would allow for it to be sold and tightly controlled by a corporation, but they were hardly seeking to eliminate hobbyist programming and the sharing of code. The company's principles did oppose the ethic of the Homebrew Computer Club and the People's Computer Company in significant ways, but Microsoft did ended up facilitating new software creation with BASIC and also facilitating the exchange of programs that Gates mentioned. Through licensing deals with computer companies, they did a great deal to bring BASIC not only out of the minicomputer time-sharing environment and onto microcomputers but also beyond the hard core of code-sharing enthusiast programmers. | ||
| − | Another sign that Microsoft was not completely at odds with the PCC is found in Appendix M to the Altair BASIC manual. On this list of "a few of the many texts that may be helpful in learning BASIC," all but one of the books can be ordered from the PCC, whose address is listed. Five of the six books are about BASIC specifically, but the manual also lists the radical and countercultural ''Computer Lib / Dream Machines'' by Theodore H. Nelson. | + | Another sign that Microsoft was not completely at odds with the PCC is found in Appendix M to the Altair BASIC manual. On this list of "a few of the many texts that may be helpful in learning BASIC," all but one of the books can be ordered from the PCC, whose address is listed. Five of the six books are about BASIC specifically, but the manual also lists the radical and countercultural ''Computer Lib / Dream Machines'' by Theodore H. Nelson. In 1987, an edition of this book would be published by Microsoft Press. |
Ultimately, BASIC became what it was in 1982 thanks to the institution of higher education where it was first developed, the corporation that implemented it and licensed it for use on home computers (including the Commodore 64), and, additionally, the hacker ethic of code sharing. | Ultimately, BASIC became what it was in 1982 thanks to the institution of higher education where it was first developed, the corporation that implemented it and licensed it for use on home computers (including the Commodore 64), and, additionally, the hacker ethic of code sharing. | ||
