Do you think computing history would have been much different if Microsoft made a 6502 Pascal interpreter instead?
Pascal is a lot broader language and won't fit in sub 16KB of ROM (even if you exclude monitor [call-151])
Microsoft's 6502 BASIC is now Open Source (2025)
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Re: Microsoft's 6502 BASIC is now Open Source (2025)
#12Re: Microsoft's 6502 BASIC is now Open Source (2025)
#13Re: Microsoft's 6502 BASIC is now Open Source (2025)
#14Re: Microsoft's 6502 BASIC is now Open Source (2025)
#15Re: Microsoft's 6502 BASIC is now Open Source (2025)
#16In 1979, I made a program called VisiBase in this BASIC. It's a visual database modeled after VisiCalc. That won me a joystick in at a competition by the local computer store. :-) Still have the source, that works in an Apple 2 emulator. It's 13 K in ASCII (untokenized).
Re: Microsoft's 6502 BASIC is now Open Source (2025)
#17Maybe Apple can finally release MacBasic now that Microsoft can no longer stop licensing their Basic to the Apple II family.
Re: Microsoft's 6502 BASIC is now Open Source (2025)
#18Do you think computing history would have been much different if Microsoft made a 6502 Pascal interpreter instead?
Re: Microsoft's 6502 BASIC is now Open Source (2025)
#19Microsoft BASIC for 6502 Microprocessor – Version 1.1 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45118392 - Sept 2025 (198 comments)
Related ongoing thread:
Microsoft open-sources "the earliest DOS source code discovered to date" - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48253386 - May 2026 (110 comments)
Re: Microsoft's 6502 BASIC is now Open Source (2025)
#20I doubt the .gitignore, README.md, and SECURITY.md files were created 49 years ago, as the GitHub repo indicates :D