There’s a $200k reward for anyone who proves Microsoft ripped off MS-DOS source
1–10 of 73 posts
Re: There’s a $200k reward for anyone who proves Microsoft ripped off MS-DOS source
#2> 22 system calls ... that had the same function (and function number) as the CP/M code.
That probably shows evidence of reverse engineering, not code copying, similar to the clean-room reimplementation of IBM's BIOS chips by Compaq.
> the types of actions that send/receive text from a printer, phone, hard disk, etc.
I know they are giving examples for a modern audience, but I was amused by the inclusion of phones in that list. Heck, even hard drives would have been unsupported until version 2 IIRC.
Re: There’s a $200k reward for anyone who proves Microsoft ripped off MS-DOS source
#3Didn't Microsoft buy DOS to make MS-DOS?
Re: There’s a $200k reward for anyone who proves Microsoft ripped off MS-DOS source
#4Ask Tim Paterson - he probably doesn't stand to lose too much now from telling the truth - assuming "the truth" is any different from conventional wisdom, which of course, it isn't.
Re: There’s a $200k reward for anyone who proves Microsoft ripped off MS-DOS source
#5Didn't Microsoft buy DOS to make MS-DOS?
Bill Gates licensed something called QDOS which was made by Tim Paterson at Seattle Computer Products, which Tim had designed to mimick CP/M's API.
Re: There’s a $200k reward for anyone who proves Microsoft ripped off MS-DOS source
#6Didn't Microsoft buy DOS to make MS-DOS?
Yeah, they bought QDOS (Quick and Dirty OS):
Re: There’s a $200k reward for anyone who proves Microsoft ripped off MS-DOS source
#7> 22 system calls ... that had the same function (and function number) as the CP/M code. That probably shows evidence of reverse engineering, not code copying, similar to the clean-room reimplementation of IBM's BIOS chips by Compaq. > the types of actions that send/receive text from a printer, phone, hard disk, etc. I know they are giving examples for a modern audience, but I was amused by the inclusion of phones in…
system calls in msdos were interrupts, so you would do the interrupt (int 21h for most parts) with different values of ah register to select the requested service (and remaining registers for arguments). My MS/DOS is a bit rusty - here is the norton guide - the MSDOS bible.
http://www.ousob.com/ng/asm/index.php
Re: There’s a $200k reward for anyone who proves Microsoft ripped off MS-DOS source
#8How is it possible to not find the Kildall function if it's there? Isnt it a pretty tiny haystack for today's standards?
Re: There’s a $200k reward for anyone who proves Microsoft ripped off MS-DOS source
#9How is it possible to not find the Kildall function if it's there? Isnt it a pretty tiny haystack for today's standards?
If it were there, you'd have to assume that Bob Zeidman would have found it. He's spent enough time looking. He therefore feels safe in offering $200,000 for it, which makes the whole thing look like more of a publicity stunt....
Re: There’s a $200k reward for anyone who proves Microsoft ripped off MS-DOS source
#10>He found no evidence it was copied and reported his findings in a piece titled ‘Did Bill Gates Steal the Heart of DOS?‘.
More supporting evidence that any title that ends in a question mark can be safely summed up as 'No'.