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Re: [PLUG] Fwd: CG: Windows XP warning
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20 years ago IBM developed the PC with ``Off the shelf'' parts creating
a system that was designed to be customizable from the beginning.
Around the same time I believe that a systems programmer named Tim
Patterson wrote an OS called QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System)
At the same time there were other systems on the market like Texas
Instruments which used plugable moduals, Heath Kit, Comadore 64, and
others. Some used the Z80 chip, Intel 8088, or Moterolla 6800.
When IBM created the PC all of the other companies were making systems
with propritary hardware. The PC on the other hand was designed as a
`toy' by IBM which didn't invest a lot of money into the development of
the PC. They took what was already on the market for other systems and
made the PC from spare parts. Also IBM first went to DEC for the CP/M
operating system but they didn't deliver fast enough.
Also at this time M$ released XENIX a UNIX clone for the Intel 8086,
Zilog Z8000, Motorola M68000, and Digital Equipment PDP-11. Also as
mention previously, DRDOS came out and there was a wonderful windowing
system called Geos which used the Motif widget set.
In 1980 Paul Allen made a deal with IBM for Tim Patterson's QDOS. Now
there is a lot of controversy about how M$ actually got the OS from
Tim. Judging from M$ behavior, I tend to believe that they stole it
just as their policy is to extend and embrace everything.
Though the PC was not as good as the other systems, being built from
spare hardware with pluggable boards into a motherboard, made the PC
very cheap to build and enabled manufacturers to clone it. The other
systems at the time were made of custom hardware like the Apple, and the
commador 64. This prevented cloning from others which kept the other
systems expensive for the home user. In 1980 the micro computer was
considered a toy and not a business machine. None of the major players
at the time saw the possibilities of the Microcomputer. The ont thing
about Bill Gates is that he saw what the microcomputer could become.
Though a huge number in our community want to condemn Microsoft, it was
the vision that made the PC what it is today.
Now 22 years later the ones who had the vision of using Linux from the
1.1.13 kernel when masquarding was added to the kernel code are the
visionaries of the future where Microsoft has become a major player who
is trying to hold on to what they have. Microsoft has gone from being a
visionary small player to a bloated major player in the computer field.
References:
http://www.heuse.com/1980.htm
PC Intern 1992 edition by Michael Tischer p.733
Michael Leone wrote:
>
> On Mon, 2002-02-11 at 19:51, Fred K Ollinger wrote:
> > > On Mon, 11 Feb 2002, Mike Leone wrote:
> > > > I thought IBM released the specs to their first PC, and that's what
> > > > started all the clones.
> > >
> > > Yes, that's true. It's one of the reasons, if not *the* reason "IBM
> > > compatibles" did so much better in the home computer market than
> > > competitors. IBM contracted with Microsoft to write the first OS for the
> >
> > I don't think so. I know that there were better machines for the same
> > price. Wasn't the amiga better (gui + sound), cheaper, and it had dos
> > emulation? I thought that the reason that the other models failed was due
> > to inept business decisions and standardization. That is MS benefited from
> > the size of IBM which was trusted at the time, "nobody gets fired for
> > buying IBM (now it's MS)". So people bought, at home, what they had at
> > work.
>
> Even so .... it could have been some company other than MS (IBM
> originally wanted DR-DOS). Whichever company IBM tapped had a better
> than good shot to be THE company, due to IBM's (at the time) huge
> influence in PCs as well as the openness of the original ISA bus. It
> coulda been DR-DOS.
>
> But it wasn't.
>
> > MS didn't write the OS, they just resold other people's work.
>
> Well, they *bought* the other people's work, so it was theirs to sell.
>
> > Not to mention that soon after that, there were other oses that ran on the
> > same hardware: dr-dos, and os2, both of which ran dos apps. I have heard
> > that the two listed were better than MS' product at the time, so in this
> > case, the market was not efficient.
> >
> > > machine. I'm not sure how things proceeded from there to where we are
> > > now.
> >
> > Fred
> >
> >
> > ______________________________________________________________________
> > Philadelphia Linux Users Group - http://www.phillylinux.org
> > Announcements-http://lists.phillylinux.org/mail/listinfo/plug-announce
> > General Discussion - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mail/listinfo/plug
> >
> >
> --
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> Michael J. Leone Registered Linux user #201348
> <mailto:turgon@mike-leone.com> ICQ: 50453890 AIM: MikeLeone
>
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>
> "Sometimes your lack of sympathy gets hard to explain,
> So on your mask of make-up you just paint a little parody of pain"
> "When you were young", Del Amitri
>
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--
Rev. LeRoy D. Cressy mailto:lcressy@telocity.com /\_/\
http://www.netaxs.com/~ldc ( o.o )
Phone: 215-535-4037 > ^ <
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)
______________________________________________________________________
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