Doc, that's the thing... after 1981, AT&T could sell Unix because they had already agreed to break up into the Baby Bells, and thus the constraint that they could not sell computers and software, was no longer there..
But prior to 1981, virtually anyone could get a copy of Unix for the cost of the media. Yes, not exactly "Free" but definitely at nominal cost. It wasn't practical to download stuff over the nascent Internet back then. And the reason why AT&T virtually gave away Unix prior to 1981, was specifically because they were barred from selling data processing equipment and software.. All of this is in Stevens or Comer or something... I'll go check my bookshelf when I get home. On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 5:27 PM, Pablo Manalastas <[email protected]> wrote: .. > I'm sorry, but Unix (even in its earliest versions) was never > free, and it was not "given away", as a result of regulatory > constraints (anti-trust suit) by the government. A review of > Unix history will show the facts: .. > Unix, after 1981, could not be given out for free because it is > a profitable commercial product at that time, just as Oracle is > an extremely profitable product today. -- Orlando Andico +63.2.976.8659 | +63.920.903.0335 _________________________________________________ Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List http://lists.linux.org.ph/mailman/listinfo/plug Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph
