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> Since when could you buy COTS and expect to get the code too? Since the 1950s and 1960s. IBM, for example, provided source code for their products until 1983
by joshuaissac 5y ago
> Since when could you buy COTS and expect to get the code too?
Since the 1950s and 1960s. IBM, for example, provided source code for their products until 1983.[1] The full Apple II source code was included in the Apple II Reference Manual;[2] similarly for the Atari 400/800 Technical Reference Notes.[3]
1. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=hSBrPSYgjI4C&redir_esc=y https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=hSBrPSYgjI4C&redir_esc=y (page 59)
2. https://archive.org/details/applerefjan78/page/n78/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/applerefjan78/page/n78/mode/2up
3. https://archive.org/details/CO16555AtariHomeComputerTechnicalReferenceNotes1982/page/n259/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/CO16555AtariHomeComputerTechnica...
- broeng 5y agoBut back then, you were rarely paying for the software directly, you were paying for hardware.
- ndiddy 5y agoIf anyone is curious what happened in 1983, that’s the same year that Apple Computer Inc. v. Franklin Computer Corp. set the precedent that binary data is covered by copyright (before this case, only source code was covered).
- doctor_eval 5y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Computer%2C_Inc._v._Franklin_Computer_Corp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Computer%2C_Inc._v._Fran....