BASIC
From Maze
(Difference between revisions)
(→Tiny BASIC and Copyleft) | (→Tiny BASIC and Copyleft) | ||
| Line 95: | Line 95: | ||
== Tiny BASIC and Copyleft == | == Tiny BASIC and Copyleft == | ||
| − | Even as Microsoft was securing its future as a multi-sided company, addressing both manufacturer and customer demand, a different version of BASIC -- indeed, a different philosophy of software altogether -- was brewing in the San Francisco Bay area. In 1975, volunteer programmers and the nonprofit People's Computer Company (PCC) developed an alternative BASIC for the Altair 8800. Bob Albrecht, who had founded "probably the world's first completely free, walk-in, public computer center -- People's Computer Center -- in a storefront in Menlo Park, California" (Dr. Dobbs @ 30) was one of many, along with Paul Allen, who had seen the ''Popular Electronics'' cover story on the MITS Altair. He discussed it with Dennis Allison, who taught at Stanford, and Allison began to develop a specification for a limited BASIC interpreter called Tiny BASIC. In a collaborative hobbyist spirit, Allison's documents were published by Albrecht in three parts in issues of the PCC newsletter, a serial which had been running since October 1972. At the conclusion of this series of specifications, Allison called for programmers to send in their implementations and offered to circulate them to anyone who sent a self-addressed stamped envelope. | + | Even as Microsoft was securing its future as a multi-sided company, addressing both manufacturer and customer demand, a different version of BASIC -- indeed, a different philosophy of software altogether -- was brewing in the San Francisco Bay area. In 1975, volunteer programmers and the nonprofit People's Computer Company (PCC) developed an alternative BASIC for the Altair 8800. Bob Albrecht, who had founded "probably the world's first completely free, walk-in, public computer center -- People's Computer Center -- in a storefront in Menlo Park, California" ("Dr. Dobbs @ 30") was one of many, along with Paul Allen, who had seen the ''Popular Electronics'' cover story on the MITS Altair. He discussed it with Dennis Allison, who taught at Stanford, and Allison began to develop a specification for a limited BASIC interpreter called Tiny BASIC. In a collaborative hobbyist spirit, Allison's documents were published in three parts by Albrecht in issues of the PCC newsletter, a serial which had been running since October 1972. At the conclusion of this series of specifications, Allison called for programmers to send in their implementations and offered to circulate them to anyone who sent a self-addressed stamped envelope. |
| − | The first interpreter written in response to this call was by Dick Whipple and John Arnold and was developed in December 1975. To disseminate it, Albrecht and Allison decided to start a new serial, initially photocopied and originally intended to just run for a few issues. This was ''Dr. Dobb's Journal of Tiny BASIC Calisthenics and Orthodontia,'' which printed the code for the interpreter in octal machine language, ready for hobbyists to toggle in or (hopefully) key in on their Teletypes. It would be an understatement to call this publication a success. By January of 1976 the journal title was made more general by removing the explicit mention of Tiny BASIC, an editor was hired, and ''Dr. Dobb's'' waslaunched as a newsletter offering code and articles on computing topics. The journal still exists online. It ran as a print publication until 2009, and shortly before that had a circulation of 120,000. In 1985, ''Dr. Dobb's'' further participated in the culture of sharing and openness by publishing Richard Stallman's "GNU Manifesto," the first critical document of the free software movement. | + | The first interpreter written in response to this call was by Dick Whipple and John Arnold and was developed in December 1975. To disseminate it, Albrecht and Allison started a new serial, initially photocopied and originally intended to just run for a few issues. This was ''Dr. Dobb's Journal of Tiny BASIC Calisthenics and Orthodontia,'' which printed the code for the interpreter in octal machine language, ready for hobbyists to toggle in or (hopefully) key in on their Teletypes. It would be an understatement to call this publication a success. By January of 1976 the journal title was made more general by removing the explicit mention of Tiny BASIC, an editor was hired, and ''Dr. Dobb's'' was launched as a newsletter offering code and articles on computing topics. The journal still exists online. It ran as a print publication until 2009, and shortly before that had a circulation of 120,000. In 1985, ''Dr. Dobb's'' further participated in the culture of sharing and openness by publishing Richard Stallman's "GNU Manifesto," a foundational document of the free software movement. |
The development of Tiny BASICs continued after this first version. The fourth Tiny BASIC, written by Li-Chen Wang, was called Palo Alto Tiny BASIC. It, too, was published initially in ''Dr. Dobb's.'' The source listing for this BASIC interpreter began: | The development of Tiny BASICs continued after this first version. The fourth Tiny BASIC, written by Li-Chen Wang, was called Palo Alto Tiny BASIC. It, too, was published initially in ''Dr. Dobb's.'' The source listing for this BASIC interpreter began: | ||
| Line 114: | Line 114: | ||
</pre> | </pre> | ||
| − | This anti-copyright notice, while it does not feature the same use of "copyleft" as free software licenses did beginning in the late 1980s, was a jab at the closed culture of copyrighted, proprietary code. Because Wang chose to declaim copyright and reserve only the "wrongs" of the program, Palo Alto Tiny BASIC was able to serve as the basis for a commercial BASIC: Level I BASIC for the TRS-80, the influential microcomputer that was sold beginning in late 1978. | + | While it does use "copyleft" in the same sense that free software licenses would beginning in the late 1980s, this anti-copyright notice was a jab at the closed culture of copyrighted, proprietary code. Because Wang chose to declaim copyright and reserve only the "wrongs" of the program, Palo Alto Tiny BASIC was able to serve as the basis for a commercial BASIC: Level I BASIC for the TRS-80, the influential microcomputer that came on the market in late 1978. |
== The Ethic vs. The Corporation == | == The Ethic vs. The Corporation == | ||
