Source-available is not open source. Watch out for trojan horse licenses.

John Layt

Microsoft have released the source code for MS DOS 1.1 and 2.0 and Microsoft Word for Windows 1.1a  to “help future generations of technologists better understand the roots of personal computing”.  As an Archaeologist / Historian this is a good thing as it helps us understand how MS worked.  As an Open Source coder this is a bad thing, as it is released under a restrictive license and we need to avoid being ‘tainted’ by the the code.  My advice to anyone thinking of having a look-see is don’t, especially if you work on any open source code that does DOS or Word related things.  Let someone else find the amusing WTFs and keep intact your absolute defence against copyright infringement claims.  If you do ever need to find out how the code worked (e.g. to write a Word 1.1 doc importer) then follow proper clean-room reverse-engineering procedures, document everything you do, and get a good lawyer.

Computer History Museum | @CHM : MICROSOFT RESEARCH LICENSE AGREEMENT | Microsoft DOS V1.1 and V2.0

Ed Greshko March 27, 2014 09:38

In other news….  Cavemen reveal the prototype of the wheel in order to better understand the current state of the automobile industry.

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