Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

How I Got Permission to Post the Outliners

Author:Dave Winer
Posted:8/2/1999; 5:30:01 PM
Topic:How I got permission to post VisiCalc
Msg #:9025 (In response to 8583)
Prev/Next:9024 / 9026

I kvelled over Dan's release of VisiCalc and pined for the chance to do the same with my antiques:

"I wish more software companies would permit this. I would love to be able to distribute my early Apple II, Mac and PC-DOS products. I still have copies of them here. But without permission from Symantec, which I have asked for, it would be copyright violation. It's too bad, there are a few ideas in that software that current-day designers, and perhaps even historians, should be able to look at."

Bill Humphries, who read this piece, sent me an email with an introduction to Symantec's chief counsel. (Thanks Bill!)

I sent him an email explaining the idea.

After Borland and Ritchie had done their releases, I sent him an update.

He sent me an email saying they had talked it over and had (reasonable) terms and conditions, and if they were acceptable to me, we could go ahead and do it.

I sent an email back saying Thanks!

We got busy getting the site together.

It's ready now. We'll have MORE 1.1c ready for you to download first thing tomorrow morning.

It's right in the middle of the timeline, it comes after the early Apple II, IBM PC and Macintosh outliners. But the concept had more maturing to do, MORE 1.1c only hints at the power and elegance that was to come in MORE 3.x. (BTW, MORE 1.1c was the last release I participated in. I left Symantec in the spring of 1988 to start UserLand.)

It runs on System 7.5.5, I'm not sure about later versions of the Mac OS.

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