Daniel Robbins hired by M$

[James Knott]

Alex Beamish wrote:
> On 6/14/05, James Knott <james.knott-bJEeYj9oJeDQT0dZR+AlfA at public.gmane.org> wrote:

>>Also, he developed his BASIC on Harvard computers, despite a prohibition
>>on using those computers for commercial purposes.  In short, he stole
>>other people's code, stole computer time, and then tried to keep
>>everything for himself.  Hardly open source.
> 
> I'm not as familiar with how the code was developed, however,
> university is a place for learning, and it could be that his work
> could have morphed into some kind of undergraduate project.
> 
> This raises an interesting question .. did Hardvard ever go after
> young Mr. Gates for compensation if it was proven that he used the
> computers to develop his Altair BASIC?

I read about this in a book about the history of modern computers.
IIRC, Harvard didn't do anything, other than tighten up their policies.
 Also, as I recall, he started work on BASIC, after he promised it to Ed
Roberts at Altair.  Also, at that time BASIC was a teaching language and
the source would have been available to students.  I wonder how much of
that was "borrowed" by Sir Billy?  Back in those days, source code was
routinely made available.

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