Pirates...

From: Fred Cisin <cisin_at_xenosoft.com>
Date: Tue Jun 22 21:20:39 1999

On Tue, 22 Jun 1999, van burnham wrote:
> #2 IBM came to Microsoft looking for an operating system for the IBM PC,
> not the other way around. Microsoft originally sent IBM to Gary Kildall
> (developer of CP/M) who refused to meet with them. IBM returned to Gates
> who, in turn, bought the OS from Kildall himself for $50K and then licensed
> it back to IBM. These facts were totally inaccurate in the film.

MICROS~1 did NOT buy from Kildall. Q-DOS (which later became MS-DOS and
PC-DOS) was written by Tim? Patterson of Seattle Computer Products. In
"Pirates", the sign on the building reads "Seattle Computer Company".
Was it ever called that?
Was $50K the correct amount?

The true story would be even more interesting than the show, what with
the whole Kildall/IBM meeting story, "Project Commodore", etc.


I've always loved the revisionist version by Kildall's friends that it was
a "legitimate business trip to deliver some documentation to Godbout".
Yeah, right. "Legitimate business" for the CEO to blow off IBM in order
to be his own courier delivery boy. (ref: Computer Chronicles eulogy
show)
Received on Tue Jun 22 1999 - 21:20:39 BST