27 Nov
2021
27 Nov
'21
10:12 p.m.
On 11/26/21, George Michaelson <ggm(a)algebras.org> wrote:
Burroughs by comparison had (I am
told, I didn't use them) shit hot code, the kernel was in a ci/cd
deployment framework with smarts. And DEC had the decus tapes and
everything in VMS was on microfiche.
Originally on the S/360 IBM software was free (the DECUS tapes model)
as well, and the source code was available on microfiche. There were
some successful third party software products. For example, a lot of
very big data centers shelled out the $$$ for SyncSort because it was
so much better and faster than the (free) IBM sort/merge program.
Then, as part of the settlement for one of the antitrust lawsuits, IBM
was forced to unbundle software from hardware. IBM made lemonade out
of this bunch of lemons by marketing its software licenses on a
subscription basis vs. selling a license for a one-time charge (the
model that DEC used, and that is most common in the PC market).
Microsoft seems to be trending that way with Windows 10/11.
-Paul W.