GRANT@LAUCOSC.LAURENTIAN.CA ("Grant R. Guenther") (02/06/90)
Steve Jacobs writes: >This compiler appeared on a swap tape distributed at a DECUS Chicago LUG/ CART >meeting about 1984 or 1985. The manual and sources are on the tape. It >calls itself 'VAX-11 Modula-2'; the abstract at the front of the manual says >"This document describes how to compile, link and execute Modula-2 programs on >a VAX-11 under the VMS operating system. The VAX-11 Modula-2 Compiler is >based on an implementation of Modula-2 for the PDP-11 developed by a group >under the direction of Prof. N. Wirth at the ETH Zuerich." Hmm. I know this compiler well, we use it every day. We paid real money for it and signed licenses, etc. (in 1985). I suspect that the swap tape copy mentioned above was quite illegal ! (After all, Logitech sold the same thing, without the sources, as a product.) Grant Guenther
mfeldman@GWUSUN.GWU.EDU (Mike Feldman) (02/06/90)
> >This compiler appeared on a swap tape distributed at a DECUS Chicago LUG/ CART > >meeting about 1984 or 1985. The manual and sources are on the tape. It > >calls itself 'VAX-11 Modula-2'; the abstract at the front of the manual says > >"This document describes how to compile, link and execute Modula-2 programs on > >a VAX-11 under the VMS operating system. The VAX-11 Modula-2 Compiler is > >based on an implementation of Modula-2 for the PDP-11 developed by a group > >under the direction of Prof. N. Wirth at the ETH Zuerich." > > Hmm. I know this compiler well, we use it every day. We paid real money > for it and signed licenses, etc. (in 1985). I suspect that the swap tape > copy mentioned above was quite illegal ! (After all, Logitech sold the same > thing, without the sources, as a product.) > > Grant Guenther > Hmm again. We used this compiler too, but started back around '83. I think it was the port done at the University of Hamburg, which we got for a minimal distribution fee. It was later spun off to Logitech, but either this happened before the 85 date mentioned by Guenther, or the swap tape was distributed without knowledge that Logitech had taken over the compiler. After all, publicity of such things has been spotty at best. We do not need to assume the copy was illegal (or intentionally so). The history of M2 compilers has been interesting: many versions were originated at universities (Zurich, Hamburg, Karlsruhe) then were spun off to small companies like ModCorp or Logitech. I'm sure the legal status of many of these things is cloudy - if a compiler was freely distributed (like Hamburg) then taken over by a business (like Logitech), what is the status of the freely-distributed ones? Can they be passed on? Where was it written and publicized, for example, that Logitech had acquired EXCLUSIVE rights to the Hamburg system? Did Hamburg transfer its rights to Logitech? What did they get in return? The project was originally funded by the German equivalent of NSF; if Hamburg transferred the rights to Logitech, did they have the right to do so? Etc., etc. We are currently using YAMP (Yet Another M2 Port) on our Sun network. This was (is?) distributed by the University of Karlsruhe, free for the cost of a blank cartridge. I saw an announcement of it a couple of years ago on Info-M2. We signed a license whose wording I don't recall, but I imagine we promised not to pass it on. The compiler is "unsupported" and I think Karlsruhe intended to spin it off. To my knowledge they have not done so. We also have YAMP for VM/CMS, distributed free by the University of Berlin. Same deal except they seem to be supporting the thing. I think it would be interesting to hear from folks at Hamburg, Berlin, Karlsruhe, or indeed Zurich, to put to rest once and for all what the legalities are surrounding all these products. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prof. Michael Feldman Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science The George Washington University Washington, DC 20052 +1-202-994-5253 mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------------