On 4/11/06 16:46, "Tom Marchant" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> When Amdahl started selling processors, the operating system was free.
> When IBM started to charge for it, they knew how much power an Amdahl
> processor had and where it fit in the pricing structure.
ISTR there was a perception at that time that IBM could not legally refuse
to license its software on whatever machine the customer wanted to use.
("You could license it on a washing machine if you wanted to."). I guess
this was related to the anti-trust nonsense. I don't suppose IBM always
liked to admit quite how powerful Amdahl and Itel/NAS machines were, so PCM
customers probably got a fair deal. But if that was the case, when and why
did it change? I can license Windows XP on a Mac Pro, but I can't license
z/OS on anything but an IBM-approved machine!
Nigel
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