Stangely
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 5, Insightful
it doesn't ask what would have happened had it all been patented, back in the day. Nice bit of history, but it was a remarkably different way of operating back then.
it doesn't ask what would have happened had it all been patented, back in the day.
Simple - it would be dead. Just like the WWW if it were patented. Or Linux (well, not patented but placed under proprietary license).
-- Save your wrists today - switch to Dvorak
Re:Stangely
by
ModernGeek
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
If it would have been patented, there would be no linux, no open standards, all would be closed, compaq's would run compaq os, ibm's would run OS/2, dell would run DellOS. Noone could make software in one language and have it interoperate between operating systems like we seemlessly do today thanks to C. We would have to pay money to develop software, we would spend more time worrying about liscensing then actually programming. Computing would not be what it is today. Thank god they did not patent any of it.
*NIX is modular in that you can pass output from one command to another via pipes
Definitely, and I think what escapes modern comp sci people is the incredible flexibility of being able to use several simple, distinct programs together to achieve a broader processing goal. Data flow between processes achieves the best separation possible, allows for the ultimate 'compatibility' (inter-process communication) and leaves performance monitoring/control to the OS. In the long term, the UNIX model sounds like a winner to me.
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it doesn't ask what would have happened had it all been patented, back in the day. Nice bit of history, but it was a remarkably different way of operating back then.