Msg: 6532 *Conference*

05-15-96 20:44:31

From: RON WIESEN

To : GARY WEBER

Subj: REPLY TO MSG #6529 (MICROSOFT KEEPS SOURCE CODE (SEE MSG#65)

Sorry to hear that Microsoft has copyright to the operating systems of the NEC
laptops.  That's 5 out of 6.  The Kyocera laptop is likely to make it 6 for 6,
but until somebody can ascertain Microsoft authorship for its operating system
it stands at 5 out of 6.  There's few Kyotronic-85 owners left who read this
conference so we may never know for sure - it's only important to said owners.

Yea, it smells like a form letter that was made some time back to address a
request to "Redistribute Files".  But the third sentance "In spite of ...."
strikes me as something inserted to acknowledge the "quite old" aspect borne
out in my FAX to Microsoft.  They returned a copy of my FAX along with theirs
and someone hand wrote "4370" on the copy.  Probably means "corporate policy
#4370" or some such thing to the legal beagles at Microsoft.  Note the footer
on their FAX "23/nosysflz.dot : 4370.doc" likely means MS_Word template that
styles form letter for no system files is applied to MS_Word document for
policy 4370.

I disagree about "portions .... in our current products". You can bet that as
many portions as possible still prevail in their current products. It's the
proprietary nature of such portions that concerns them. Essentially these can
be called "neat, fast, compact schemes at primitive code level".  They lose
revenue if they release it and competing application software developers get
ahold of it because they can capitalize quickly on it rather than "unearth" it
slowly by code scrutinization.  In other words, exactly how we wish to save
time for laptop program development (the point of our request) also translates
for tabletop PC program development where buck$ are involved.  Microsoft loses
no buck$ regarding our laptop programs.

Read the interview, or one like it, here in a file Rick has on this BBS.  Said
Model 100 op system was last project Bill Gates had accomplished personally.
So I'm sure the op system is close to his heart and something he has pride in -
and so he should!  Your thought about "appeal direct to Bill" crossed my mind
as well.  I haven't ruled it out.  Word has it that Bill is an "approachable"
kind of guy.  But I think his legal beagles would discourage him for
disclosure.

What we need is the "best person to plead our case to Bill" but I don't know
who is best.  Somebody there on the "left-coast" who can arrange a face-to-face
with Bill.  I live on the "right-coast", sorry.

Nope - waste of time to pester Tandy or NEC.  Until the copyright issue is
settled in our favor, we can't begin to fight the license battle with them.
Hang in there.  Never say die!