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pr0gm3r · Oct 6th, 2005, 5:58 PM

Story behind Microsoft.

MUST READ

A bunch of geeks got interested in computers because they were fun, and they didn't have much of a social life. Many of these people were sharp -- but not THAT sharp. They geeked around and played with electronics and
Computer BECAUSE THEY LIKED IT! Now some of these people happened to be in the right place at the right time, and had the wisdom to take advantage of it. Let's not pretend these guys were that insightful! They were doing what they enjoyed, and it just happened to be in an industry that took off. This has happened in the past with cars, planes, the industrial revolution, ad infinitum. If you are at the right place at the right time, and you aren't stupid, you can succeed.

Bill Gates was one of these. He was lucky, had connections (and wealthy parents), and happened to be in the right places at the right time. Oh, yeah, and he wasn't stupid either, and took advantage of opportunity.

Bill Gates (after dropping out of college) and a friend (Paul Allen) started making software (Mid 70's). They had a few nothing projects to make pocket change, and then stumbled on one that made them more. They saw this proto home computer kit (the Altair from MITS), and they decided that BASIC would be perfect for it. BASIC was a language that had been around for years, and made computers easier to program than programming the machine code. So they stole computer time from a College (you aren't supposed to use University resources for private commercial projects), and they reworked some stolen (er, borrowed) BASIC code (you aren't supposed to sell things derived from public domain code). So the ethics were a little shaky, but they ethics never got in the way of Microsoft's business.

Before this time, most commercial software wasm written under contract for big businesses and mainframe and minicomputers, so writing software for Microcomputers was a bit of a risk. If Gates had been really smart, they could have made a fortune by programming professionally for others. But Gates and Allen didn't fit the corporate mold, and more wanted to play on their own things than be smart and make good money. But Micros took off, and they happened to be there. This was probably more ego or for fun than insight or business sense. Don't get me wrong, people knew that Micros were going to have some business; but no one knew they were going to take off like they did. It is also easier to take risks like this, when you are a College kid with no overhead, and living off of Mommy and Daddy.

Computers weren't mainstream yet -- so writing thislanguage was not about money it was fun. They got some prestige
in the geek circles, and they made a few bucks, but were not exactly wildly successful -- just college kids playing big-shots.

Bill Gates made some major mistakes, and managed to piss off most of his market when he and MITS charged more for the language than the computer itself cost. This pissed many off, that they started pirating Gates BASIC, and they started fixing the many bugs in it, and adding features. Soon the pirated versions were better than the 'for sale' one.

Gates threw a fit, and wrote a letter than called all the people improving his product thieves for stealing his software.

continue

My comments about Bill Gates: very smart by stealing Basic code from public domain and improving them...
and then when Gates threw a fit, and wrote a letter than called all the people improving his product thieves for stealing his software(Piracy)... but He improved the code off from the College.. is he doing PIRACY ???? IS THIS FAIR?? I think Piracy should be legal that what you called SHARING.

SHARING IS LEGAL. we have the right to share ^___^

uman · Oct 6th, 2005, 6:05 PM

(Toggle Plain Text)

 (you aren't supposed to sell things derived from public domain code)

Bullshit.

Anyway, this is a tired anti-MS flame, and whether it's true or not, I fail to see how it supports the idea that "piracy is legal."

pr0gm3r · Oct 6th, 2005, 6:12 PM

lol this is just my opinions ok ^__^ since Bill Gate tought us how to stole...

Dameon · Oct 6th, 2005, 6:18 PM

Last I checked, you are not a judge or lawmaker. Your moral opinions and oversized smilies carry zero weight when it comes to actual legality of copyright infringement.

Rory · Oct 6th, 2005, 6:23 PM

Bill isn't that evil, he's simply a nerd with business acuman. Steve "I'm gonna kill Google" Ballmer is an incredibly nasty piece of work however.

pr0gm3r · Oct 6th, 2005, 6:31 PM

lol yup... my opinion is acutally about file sharing ...why is not legal... hehehe...

btw I am sure B Gate$ work hard and earns it... ^__^

o.O ya.. I am not a judge ..heheh .. just student

damn copyright infringement...

maybe our name should be copyright it too... ^__^

B3TA_SCR1PT3R · Oct 6th, 2005, 7:17 PM

this dosent make piracy legal

l337killa07 · Oct 6th, 2005, 7:25 PM

yea bro i think what the guys are trying to say is that ur just ranting....that has nothing to do with "piracy"....if you had titled it "stealing computer code from others" then maybe the article would have made more sense......

but hey who am i to judge?

DaWei · Oct 6th, 2005, 7:27 PM

Quite frankly, progmer, your judgements suck to the same extent as your history, and that's at least as bad as an F5 tornado. Let me remind you that the forum's rules prohibit flaming on the behalf of any particular OS or platform.

Josef_Stalin · Oct 6th, 2005, 7:48 PM

Microsoft sucks.

Oct 6th, 2005, 5:58 PM	#1
pr0gm3r Hobbyist Programmer Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: CA Posts: 102 Rep Power: 4	Piracy is Legal Story behind Microsoft. MUST READ A bunch of geeks got interested in computers because they were fun, and they didn't have much of a social life. Many of these people were sharp -- but not THAT sharp. They geeked around and played with electronics and Computer BECAUSE THEY LIKED IT! Now some of these people happened to be in the right place at the right time, and had the wisdom to take advantage of it. Let's not pretend these guys were that insightful! They were doing what they enjoyed, and it just happened to be in an industry that took off. This has happened in the past with cars, planes, the industrial revolution, ad infinitum. If you are at the right place at the right time, and you aren't stupid, you can succeed. Bill Gates was one of these. He was lucky, had connections (and wealthy parents), and happened to be in the right places at the right time. Oh, yeah, and he wasn't stupid either, and took advantage of opportunity. Bill Gates (after dropping out of college) and a friend (Paul Allen) started making software (Mid 70's). They had a few nothing projects to make pocket change, and then stumbled on one that made them more. They saw this proto home computer kit (the Altair from MITS), and they decided that BASIC would be perfect for it. BASIC was a language that had been around for years, and made computers easier to program than programming the machine code. So they stole computer time from a College (you aren't supposed to use University resources for private commercial projects), and they reworked some stolen (er, borrowed) BASIC code (you aren't supposed to sell things derived from public domain code). So the ethics were a little shaky, but they ethics never got in the way of Microsoft's business. Before this time, most commercial software wasm written under contract for big businesses and mainframe and minicomputers, so writing software for Microcomputers was a bit of a risk. If Gates had been really smart, they could have made a fortune by programming professionally for others. But Gates and Allen didn't fit the corporate mold, and more wanted to play on their own things than be smart and make good money. But Micros took off, and they happened to be there. This was probably more ego or for fun than insight or business sense. Don't get me wrong, people knew that Micros were going to have some business; but no one knew they were going to take off like they did. It is also easier to take risks like this, when you are a College kid with no overhead, and living off of Mommy and Daddy. Computers weren't mainstream yet -- so writing thislanguage was not about money it was fun. They got some prestige in the geek circles, and they made a few bucks, but were not exactly wildly successful -- just college kids playing big-shots. Bill Gates made some major mistakes, and managed to piss off most of his market when he and MITS charged more for the language than the computer itself cost. This pissed many off, that they started pirating Gates BASIC, and they started fixing the many bugs in it, and adding features. Soon the pirated versions were better than the 'for sale' one. Gates threw a fit, and wrote a letter than called all the people improving his product thieves for stealing his software. continue My comments about Bill Gates: very smart by stealing Basic code from public domain and improving them... and then when Gates threw a fit, and wrote a letter than called all the people improving his product thieves for stealing his software(Piracy)... but He improved the code off from the College.. is he doing PIRACY ???? IS THIS FAIR?? I think Piracy should be legal that what you called SHARING. SHARING IS LEGAL. we have the right to share ^___^ __________________ -- pr0gm3r Last edited by pr0gm3r; Oct 6th, 2005 at 6:09 PM.

Oct 6th, 2005, 6:05 PM	#2
uman Expert Programmer Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 794 Rep Power: 4	(Toggle Plain Text) (you aren't supposed to sell things derived from public domain code) (you aren't supposed to sell things derived from public domain code) Bullshit. Anyway, this is a tired anti-MS flame, and whether it's true or not, I fail to see how it supports the idea that "piracy is legal." __________________ Few people deserve to be compared to (Rush) Limbaugh, most of them were convicted at the Nuremburg trials. --WilliamSChips on Slashdot

Oct 6th, 2005, 6:12 PM	#3
pr0gm3r Hobbyist Programmer Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: CA Posts: 102 Rep Power: 4	lol this is just my opinions ok ^__^ since Bill Gate tought us how to stole... __________________ -- pr0gm3r

Oct 6th, 2005, 6:18 PM	#4
Dameon Troll Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 732 Rep Power: 4	Last I checked, you are not a judge or lawmaker. Your moral opinions and oversized smilies carry zero weight when it comes to actual legality of copyright infringement. __________________ MD5(sig) = bcef75433db02e9ad9bf81d6f7c5c270

Oct 6th, 2005, 6:31 PM	#6
pr0gm3r Hobbyist Programmer Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: CA Posts: 102 Rep Power: 4	lol yup... my opinion is acutally about file sharing ...why is not legal... hehehe... btw I am sure B Gate$ work hard and earns it... ^__^ o.O ya.. I am not a judge ..heheh .. just student damn copyright infringement... maybe our name should be copyright it too... ^__^ __________________ -- pr0gm3r

Oct 6th, 2005, 6:23 PM	#5
Rory Expert Programmer Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: London Posts: 542 Rep Power: 4	Bill isn't that evil, he's simply a nerd with business acuman. Steve "I'm gonna kill Google" Ballmer is an incredibly nasty piece of work however.

Oct 6th, 2005, 7:17 PM	#7
B3TA_SCR1PT3R Hobbyist Programmer Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Dallas, Texas Posts: 101 Rep Power: 0	this dosent make piracy legal __________________ Hoes telling me to calm down but I'm like fuck that shit!

Oct 6th, 2005, 7:25 PM	#8
l337killa07 Newbie Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 22 Rep Power: 0	yea bro i think what the guys are trying to say is that ur just ranting....that has nothing to do with "piracy"....if you had titled it "stealing computer code from others" then maybe the article would have made more sense...... but hey who am i to judge?

Oct 6th, 2005, 7:27 PM	#9
DaWei Resident Grouch Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 6,453 Rep Power: 10	Quite frankly, progmer, your judgements suck to the same extent as your history, and that's at least as bad as an F5 tornado. Let me remind you that the forum's rules prohibit flaming on the behalf of any particular OS or platform. __________________ Abstraction doesn't make it impossible to write bad code; it makes it possible to write superior code. Contributor's Corner: Grumpy on C++ Exceptions DaWei on Pointers

Oct 6th, 2005, 7:48 PM	#10
Josef_Stalin Programmer Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 77 Rep Power: 4	Microsoft sucks.

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Piracy is Legal