First open source OS

[richb at pioneer.ci.net]

GAF wrote:
> They state thet Linux is the first completely open source operating system.
> I think they are wrong on a couple of counts. FreeBSD predates Linux, but
> was kind of overshadowed by the AT&T lawsuit.

I'm not too sure about that.  I brought up Linux in December 1992 and I
don't recall FreeBSD being completely open at that point--you still had to
use some AT&T proprietary code to get it up and running.  I chose Linux
over FreeBSD at the time because of that, and because of the active
newsgroups which seemed to have more momentum at the time.  FreeBSD's
popularity surged in 1994 or thereabouts.

>  Also, IBM provded OS (both
> MFT and MVT) and VS (VS1 and VS2) in source form in the 70's, and I believe
> that VM370 source was also available free of charge. Of course, one needed
> either a 360 or 370, so it was a bit different.

In similar fashion, the TOPS-10 source code (in PDP-10 assembly language)
was open to all customers of the $400,000+ series of PDP-10 processors.  My
career started out answering SPRs for code-readers at the likes of ADP
(the payroll company) and CNA (the insurance company) and most especially
the various colleges which had these systems.

The term "open" has been redefined by the movement started by the Free Software
Foundation.  The implication these days is that an "open source" system
can be modified and made available to later users, so long as attribution
is given to the original author.  Modifications to proprietary-but-open
source code have to be sent back to the original author, who then makes
the decision on making it available.  For example, an embedded-Linux
vendor can incorporate new device drivers or memory-management enhancements
without sending them back to Linus, but an IBM or DEC reseller would have
been under licensing restrictions.

-rich