CP/M creator Gary Kildall's memoirs released as free download • Hacker News Board

Re: CP/M creator Gary Kildall's memoirs released as free download

#21

Post by heymijo » Fri, Jul 18, 2025, 1:32 PM UTC

Let me give the now defunct Internet History Podcast a shout out. Episode 100 - The Man Who Could Have Been Bill Gates? The Gary Kildall Story

A story with intrigue that chronicles the why and how Microsoft ended up extracting the most value from the PC revolution instead of the hardware makers and of course, why that was DOS instead of CP/M.

I liked the oral history nature of this podcast, walking me through things that preceded me in technology, and then things that I lived through like the 90's internet.

https://www.internethistorypodcast.com/2016/03/the-man-who-c...

Re: CP/M creator Gary Kildall's memoirs released as free download

#22

Post by hackmack10 » Fri, Jul 18, 2025, 1:46 PM UTC

The kids should not be removing some of their Dad's work. His struggles with alcoholism are well defined in the public and him describing his struggles could help another facing similar problems.

Re: CP/M creator Gary Kildall's memoirs released as free download

#23

Post by wslh » Fri, Jul 18, 2025, 1:46 PM UTC

whobre wrote: post #7

rbanffy wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that, by now, I have watched every episode. He was the Bill Gates we needed.

He was nothing like BG. Gary was an inventor, educator and most of all a visionary. He hated running a business, even though he started DRI after failing to convince Intel to buy CP/M. Yes, there are quite a few videos on YouTube about him, named “The man who should have been Bill Gates” but that’s just click baiting. Watch the special episode of “The Computer Chronicles” about Gary Kildall and see what his friends a…

I recommend reading "Idea Man" [1] by Paul Allen, Microsoft's cofounder, to understand the deep and early involvement he and Bill Gates had with computers.

I also recommend Hard Drive (1992) [2] for a deeper look into the business side of Bill Gates.

Regardless of any negative opinions about him, I believe Bill Gates was/is in a league of his own.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idea_Man

[2] https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Drive-Making-Microsoft-Empire/dp...

Re: CP/M creator Gary Kildall's memoirs released as free download

#24

Post by rbanffy » Fri, Jul 18, 2025, 1:47 PM UTC

whobre wrote: post #7

rbanffy wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that, by now, I have watched every episode. He was the Bill Gates we needed.

He was nothing like BG. Gary was an inventor, educator and most of all a visionary. He hated running a business, even though he started DRI after failing to convince Intel to buy CP/M. Yes, there are quite a few videos on YouTube about him, named “The man who should have been Bill Gates” but that’s just click baiting. Watch the special episode of “The Computer Chronicles” about Gary Kildall and see what his friends a…

> He was nothing like BG.

This is exactly my point.

> He hated running a business, even though he started DRI after failing to convince Intel to buy CP/M

This is what uniquely qualified him to bring about a nicer timeline.

Sadly, we got the second rate one...

Re: CP/M creator Gary Kildall's memoirs released as free download

#25

Post by rbanffy » Fri, Jul 18, 2025, 1:48 PM UTC

terabyterex wrote: post #14

whobre wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He was nothing like BG. Gary was an inventor, educator and most of all a visionary. He hated running a business, even though he started DRI after failing to convince Intel to buy CP/M. Yes, there are quite a few videos on YouTube about him, named “The man who should have been Bill Gates” but that’s just click baiting. Watch the special episode of “The Computer Chronicles” about Gary Kildall and see what his friends a…

This paints Bill Gates as not a tech person and a business first person, which is not true. He got a BASIC compiler on the altair which MITS thought couldn't be done. He helped Wozniak implement a version of BASIC supporting floating point numbers. Gates didn't even want to take Microsoft public. They had to convince him. Ballmer was the biggest businessman in the bunch. Hell, he was the one that suggested kidall sin…

> BASIC compiler

Interpreter - an entirely different kind of animal. Microsoft didn't get a BASIC compiler until much later.

> He helped Wozniak implement a version of BASIC supporting floating point numbers.

No. He sold Apple a BASIC, then used it as leverage to prevent Apple from making a BASIC for the Macintosh.

> Ballmer was the biggest businessman in the bunch.

He suggested cutting Paul Allen's family off when Allen was battling cancer.

Re: CP/M creator Gary Kildall's memoirs released as free download

#26

Post by profsummergig » Fri, Jul 18, 2025, 1:52 PM UTC

heymijo wrote: post #21

Let me give the now defunct Internet History Podcast a shout out. Episode 100 - The Man Who Could Have Been Bill Gates? The Gary Kildall Story A story with intrigue that chronicles the why and how Microsoft ended up extracting the most value from the PC revolution instead of the hardware makers and of course, why that was DOS instead of CP/M. I liked the oral history nature of this podcast, walking me through things…

Kildall may have also invented ghosting.

I remember watching a documentary. IBM officials showed up at Kildall's house twice to convince him to sell/license CP/M to them. Pre-planned meetings. He ghosted them both times. One of those times they waited hours for him.

Re: CP/M creator Gary Kildall's memoirs released as free download

#27

Post by rbanffy » Fri, Jul 18, 2025, 1:53 PM UTC

FuriouslyAdrift wrote: post #15

whobre wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He was nothing like BG. Gary was an inventor, educator and most of all a visionary. He hated running a business, even though he started DRI after failing to convince Intel to buy CP/M. Yes, there are quite a few videos on YouTube about him, named “The man who should have been Bill Gates” but that’s just click baiting. Watch the special episode of “The Computer Chronicles” about Gary Kildall and see what his friends a…

Just like Jobs. He was the marketing and sales guy. Woz, et al. were the visionaries and engineers cranking out the product.

Jobs had a key difference from Gates - he had taste. He insisted on the injection molded case for the Apple II instead of sheet metal because he wanted it to look like a finished product. He insisted on not having lines dividing the color bands in their logo, which made it more expensive to print (but much nicer to look at).

Jobs would never let something like Windows 1 escape the lab.

Re: CP/M creator Gary Kildall's memoirs released as free download

#28

Post by rbanffy » Fri, Jul 18, 2025, 1:55 PM UTC

agumonkey wrote: post #10

whobre wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He was nothing like BG. Gary was an inventor, educator and most of all a visionary. He hated running a business, even though he started DRI after failing to convince Intel to buy CP/M. Yes, there are quite a few videos on YouTube about him, named “The man who should have been Bill Gates” but that’s just click baiting. Watch the special episode of “The Computer Chronicles” about Gary Kildall and see what his friends a…

Kinda saddens me that society usually aligns with marketing and business mindset (impressing, selling, profiting) instead of people like Kildall. There are many passionated, driven, creative, prolific people with intrisic motivations that are wasted due to commercial forces.

We ended up with the one this society, which usually aligns with business and marketing mindsets, deserves.

In time, we might remake society in a kinder, wiser version of itself. At that time, we might even deserve more Kildalls.

Re: CP/M creator Gary Kildall's memoirs released as free download

#29

Post by zozbot234 » Fri, Jul 18, 2025, 1:55 PM UTC

terabyterex wrote: post #14

whobre wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He was nothing like BG. Gary was an inventor, educator and most of all a visionary. He hated running a business, even though he started DRI after failing to convince Intel to buy CP/M. Yes, there are quite a few videos on YouTube about him, named “The man who should have been Bill Gates” but that’s just click baiting. Watch the special episode of “The Computer Chronicles” about Gary Kildall and see what his friends a…

This paints Bill Gates as not a tech person and a business first person, which is not true. He got a BASIC compiler on the altair which MITS thought couldn't be done. He helped Wozniak implement a version of BASIC supporting floating point numbers. Gates didn't even want to take Microsoft public. They had to convince him. Ballmer was the biggest businessman in the bunch. Hell, he was the one that suggested kidall sin…

MITS was correct. TinyBASIC is a very different animal from the language for time-sharing minicomputers that was what people actually meant by "BASIC" at the time. For one thing, TinyBASIC was a language interpreter and not a compiler.

Re: CP/M creator Gary Kildall's memoirs released as free download

#30

Post by rbanffy » Fri, Jul 18, 2025, 1:57 PM UTC

zozbot234 wrote: post #29

terabyterex wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This paints Bill Gates as not a tech person and a business first person, which is not true. He got a BASIC compiler on the altair which MITS thought couldn't be done. He helped Wozniak implement a version of BASIC supporting floating point numbers. Gates didn't even want to take Microsoft public. They had to convince him. Ballmer was the biggest businessman in the bunch. Hell, he was the one that suggested kidall sin…

MITS was correct. TinyBASIC is a very different animal from the language for time-sharing minicomputers that was what people actually meant by "BASIC" at the time. For one thing, TinyBASIC was a language interpreter and not a compiler.

And had no timesharing features at all.