Re: Tube Troubles


"tubegarden" <tubegarden@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:e8b1b91c-36dd-4a70-acde-dc41a507a132@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Aug 21, 8:32?am, Jon Yaeger <jon...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Al,

You'll recall the famous IBM vs. Phoenix Software contest. ?IBM published
the details of their ROM code & Phoenix emulated the functionality. ?They
were not guilty of copyright violation, and an entire clone PC industry
was
started.

Is that being rude?

Hi Jon,

Not at all. In a case where IBM was the defendant, the court was shown
that the source code had every mis spelling in the comments fields
that the original, non-IBM source. That is rude.


The standard method in the computer industry is to have 2 groups of
engineers. The first group disassemble (physically or logically) the product
and learn how it functions, but are not allowed to take part on the design
of the "Compatible" product. The second group design the new product but are
not allowed to examine the original. The second group are allowed to ask as
many questions as they wish to the first group who can answer all questions,
but not volunteer any information. The second group are also allowed to
consult any publically available documentation from the original
manufacturer, but not any unpublished docs.



The method was tested in the courts, and as long as the actual designers can
claim not to have examined the original, the law is satisfied. It all came
out of the BIOS wars back in the 80's




.