wes@engr.uky.edu (Wes Morgan) (02/10/88)
I understand that the DEC-10 is no longer supported by Digital.
If this is the case, what is the status of DEC-10 system soft-
ware in terms of copyrights, et cetera? I'm working on an as-
sembler for instructional purposes, and the DEC-10 instruction
set is one of the most readable I've used. Since DEC-10s are
no longer around, how would I go about securing permission to
use the DEC-10 instruction set in this manner?
AOSing my workload but SOSing my pay,
Wes Morgan
--
wes@engr.uky.edu OR wes%ukecc.uucp@ukma OR ...cbosgd!ukma!ukecc!wes
Ho! Ha ha! Guard! Turn! Parry! Dodge! Spin! Thrust! <*SPROING!*>
Actually, it's a buck-and-a-quarter quarterstaff, but I'm not telling him that! blarson@skat.usc.edu (Bob Larson) (02/11/88)
In article <1997@ukecc.engr.uky.edu> wes@engr.uky.edu (Wes Morgan) writes: >I understand that the DEC-10 is no longer supported by Digital. >If this is the case, what is the status of DEC-10 system soft- >ware in terms of copyrights, et cetera? Copyright laws are not significantly different for things out of print. I'm no lawyer, but I don't think you can use any copyrighted material without permission except for "fair use". What you need may be fair use. > I'm working on an assembler for instructional purposes, and the >DEC-10 instruction set is one of the most readable I've used. >Since DEC-10s are no longer around, There are still quite a few around. (Two left at USC running Tops-20.) >how would I go about securing >permission to use the DEC-10 instruction set in this manner? I don't think you would need permission to use the instruction set. You would, of course, need permission to copy the manuals. I think the Tenex operating system for them is in public domain. You might also check with Stanford about their Fail assembler for them. (Superior to Macro-10.) -- Bob Larson Arpa: Blarson@Ecla.Usc.Edu blarson@skat.usc.edu Uucp: {sdcrdcf,cit-vax}!oberon!skat!blarson Prime mailing list: info-prime-request%fns1@ecla.usc.edu oberon!fns1!info-prime-request
d2b@rayssd.ray.com (Donald A. Borsay) (02/13/88)
In article <1997@ukecc.engr.uky.edu> wes@engr.uky.edu (Wes Morgan) writes: >I understand that the DEC-10 is no longer supported by Digital. >If this is the case, what is the status of DEC-10 system soft- >ware in terms of copyrights, et cetera? I'm working on an as- >sembler for instructional purposes, and the DEC-10 instruction >set is one of the most readable I've used. Since DEC-10s are >no longer around, how would I go about securing permission to >use the DEC-10 instruction set in this manner? > Here's some information that was included into a consolidated trip report, which I pulled together and distributed at our local DECUS LUG. Hope it helps. Extracted from a DECUS U.S. Chapter Fall '87 Symposium Trip Report, as part of contribution from Carol Farrell, Gerry Loon, and Betsy Ramsey of the American Mathematical Society. TOPS-10/20 This is the next to last DECUS for the Product Business Unit. In June 1988, the marketing branch of the unit will be terminated, and engineering will move under Field Service. The only outstanding commitments are TOPS-10 V7.04 and TOPS-20 V7.0. The KL trade-in program ends this month and has been very successful; the customer retention rate at TOPS sites was 82% as of Nov 87. DEC still has over 300 trained LCG Field Service engineers, and over $10M in LCG parts held in stockrooms world-wide. From April 1982 to April 1987, Field Service prices have risen only 2.6%, and the 1987 Service satisfaction was up to 8.8 from 8.6 in 1986. The software engineering goals are to release TOPS-10 V7.04 and TOPS-20 V7.0; document the new o/s releases; continue to evaluate electronic-only releases; improve the Autopatch process; reduce the SPR backlog; answer most SPRs within a month; and maintain 36-bit expertise in order to meet customer needs (i.e., Mom and Apple Pie stuff). Susan Porada was on hand to get feedback about electronic-only distribution of documentation for the new TOPS releases; user's concern over the what format the documentation was shipped in, the ability to sell documentation at cost since DEC doesn't provide the service, and obtaining the OS sources since DEC isn't supporting it any more, was voiced. -- Don |Raytheon Company, Submarine Signal Division, Portsmouth, RI Borsay |ARPAnet: d2b%rayssd.RAY.COM@a.cs.uiuc.edu |UUCPmail: {allegra, decvax!brunix, linus!raybed2}!rayssd!d2b
berg@Lindy.STANFORD.EDU (Eric M. Berg) (02/16/88)
In article <1997@ukecc.engr.uky.edu> wes@engr.uky.edu (Wes Morgan) writes: >I understand that the DEC-10 is no longer supported by Digital. DEC is no longer marketing DEC-10s and -20s, but they are committed to providing software support and hardware maintenance for existing customers for the next 5 years. >If this is the case, what is the status of DEC-10 system software in >terms of copyrights, et cetera? At the December 1987 DECUS, the DEC people at the TOPS-20 update session were asked whether DEC would provide operating system sources to "non-source" sites (i.e. sites with "binary-only" licenses). Their response was that they saw no need to do so, as long as DEC is providing software support. I'm sure the situation is the same for TOPS-10. It's clear that DEC still considers TOPS-10/20 to be proprietary software products. [This is by way of clarification... I'm not sure whether permission is required to use the DEC-10 instruction set for instructional purposes.] Eric M. Berg A.ERIC@GSB-How.Stanford.EDU Graduate School of Business Computer Facility 415/723-3833 Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5015 -- Eric M. Berg A.ERIC@GSB-How.Stanford.EDU Graduate School of Business Computer Facility 415/723-3833 Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5015