Sam Ewalt wrote:
>Gates bought QDOS which was a knockoff/hack/clone
>of CP/M and sold it to IBM with
>the provision that he could also sell it to others.
Wouldn't it be fun to go back in time and sit in at that meeting between
giant IBM and little Microsoft. Was that proviso-- that Gates could sell it
to other-- a BIG point in the discussions, or a small one? IBM probably
thought hardware was the important thing, and didn't care whether others got
the same operating system. On this thread hangs Bill Gates today as a
billionaire, and IBM as practically an "also ran" in the personal computer
market.
>Gary Kildall, the owner of Digital Research and developer
>of CP/M declined to sue Gates because he thought he could
>compete on the basis of superior technology. CP/M evolved
>into DR-DOS.
>And the rest is history.
The other piece of this history that is fun to tell is the fact that Kendall
and Digital Research were the operating system giants at that time. And IBM
first knocked on Kendall's door to get an operating system for the PC. Only
Kendall was out playing golf or something, thinking the meeting with IBM had
been cancelled since Kendall refused to sign their draconian secrecy
agreement in advance. So IBM went to Gates, and Kendall apparently thought
it was no big deal; EVERYONE would want to buy HIS operating system for the
new PCs, despite the fact it wasn't ready when the PCs were, cost more, had
no big advantages, etc. That's why Digital Research isn't where Microsoft
is today.
