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Source code of early S versions

2 messages · Barry Rowlingson, Jari Oksanen

Original
Barry Rowlingson
#
On Mon, Feb 29, 2016 at 6:17 PM, John Chambers <jmc at r-project.org> wrote:
So it was free (or at least distribution cost only), but with a
nondisclosure agreement? Did binaries circulate freely, legally or
otherwise? Okay, guess I'll read the book.

 I'm sure I saw S source early in my career (1990 or so), possibly on
an early Sun 3/60 system or even the on-the-way-out Whitechapel MG-1
workstations.
That will sit nicely on the shelf next to "Extending The S System"
that Allan Wilks gave me :)
At least I didn't say palaeontological.

Thanks for the response.

Barry
Jari Oksanen
# 
I don?t think I have seen S source, but some other Bell software has license of this type:

C THIS INFORMATION IS PROPRIETARY AND IS THE                                     
C PROPERTY OF BELL TELEPHONE LABORATORIES,                                       
C INCORPORATED.  ITS REPRODUCTION OR DISCLOSURE                                  
C TO OTHERS, EITHER ORALLY OR IN WRITING, IS                                     
C PROHIBITED WITHOUT WRITTEN PRERMISSION OF                                      
C BELL LABORATORIES. 

C IT IS UNDERSTOOD THAT THESE MATERIALS WILL BE USED FOR                         
C EDUCATIONAL AND INSTRUCTIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.    

(Obviously in FORTRAN)

So the code was ?open? in the sense that you could see the code, and it had to be ?open", because source code  was the only way to distribute software before the era of widespread platforms allowing binary distributions (such as VAX/VMS or Intel/MS-DOS). However, the license in effect says that although you can see the code, you are not even allowed to tell anybody that you have seen it. I don?t know how this is interpreted currently, but you may ask the current owner, Nokia.

Cheers, Jari Oksanen