I saw that! Interesting to see Microsoft releasing more stuff as open source, including more of their DOS catalog. I'd really like to see them release Word for DOS source code too.
As for GW-BASIC, FreeDOS already includes other BASIC interpreters and compilers with equivalent or better functionality, so I don't know that we need to add GW-BASIC. I'm not a BASIC programmer, so I'm open to suggestion on this. There's pros and cons either way (a big pro is compatibility, a big con is I suspect no one has GW-BASIC files laying around). But either way, nice to know it's there. And it should be an interesting experiment for someone to get this to assemble using open tools. I wonder if they'll release QuickBasic as open source. That would be REALLY interesting! Overall, it's good to see Microsoft doing this. Especially so because of the company president last week saying that he now recognizes Microsoft was on the wrong side of history on open source. Seems like they really do recognize the importance of open source and are taking steps to be more open (they've released other things as open source via GitHub that hasn't hit the news) On Fri, May 22, 2020, 2:42 AM Geraldo Netto <geraldone...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hey Folks! > > How are you doing? > > Microsoft just open sourced gw-basic > https://devblogs.microsoft.com/commandline/microsoft-open-sources-gw-basic/ > > the source code on github > https://github.com/microsoft/GW-BASIC > > news from phoronix: > > https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Microsoft-Open-Source-GW-BASIC > > from Microsoft dev blog: > "We are excited to announce the open-sourcing of Microsoft GW-BASIC on > GitHub! > > Yes, seriously đ > > Why? > > Since re-open-sourcing MS-DOS 1.25 & 2.0 on GitHub last year, weâve > received numerous requests to also open-source Microsoft BASIC. > > Well, here we are! đ > > The Source > > These sources, as clearly stated in the repoâs readme, are the 8088 > assembly language sources from 10th Feb 1983, and are being > open-sourced for historical reference and educational purposes. This > means we will not be accepting PRs that modify the source in any way. > > A little historical context > > The GW-BASIC source code being published is dated Feb 10th 1983. That > was quite a while ago, so just to set a little historical perspective: > > The week this source was created Men At Work topped the US and UK > singles charts with âDown Underâ, Dustin Hoffman starred in the #1 US > box-office movie, âTootsieâ. In 1983, âStar Wars Episode VI â Return > of the Jediâ was released, as was âWar Gamesâ! And, Emily Blunt, Kate > Mara, Jonah Hill, Chris Hemsworth, and Henry Cavill, were born! Ronald > Reagan was President of the USA, and Margaret Thatcher was the UKâs > Prime Minister. > > That same year, Bjarne Stroustrup was in the middle of developing the > first version of the C++ programming language, ARPANET standardized > TCP/IP. Borland announced Turbo Pascal, created by Anders Hejlsberg > (who went on to join Microsoft, and create J++, C# and TypeScript). > > 1983 was also the year AT&T released UNIX System V R1, and BSD 4.2 was > released, introducing the pseudoterminal for the first time (the > progenitor to Windowsâ ConPTY we introduced to Windows in 2018 đ) > > I was 13, and spent every spare second that I wasnât finishing my > homework or doing my chores, writing BASIC and assembly code on one of > the hottest home computers of the time â the BBC Micro sporting 32KB > RAM (yes, 32,768 bytes, total!), powered by a MOS Technology 6502 > processor running at a BLAZING 2MHz. When not coding, I was usually > playing one of the most groundbreaking games of all time: âEliteâ by > David Braben & Ian Bell. > > In 1983, Apple launched the 1MHz 6502-powered Apple IIe for US$1,395 > (> $3,500 in 2020). Apple also launched the first commercially > available computer with a GUI â the Apple Lisa. The Lisa contained a > staggering 1MB RAM, and ran the awesome Motorola 68000 processor at an > astounding 5MHz, but it cost $9,995 (> $25,000 in 2020 dollars), so > all I could do was peer at it through the window of the one computer > store in our town authorized to sell Appleâs products ⌠and dream. > > And, in 1983 Microsoft released MS-DOS 2.0 (source here), and GW-BASIC > for the IBM PC XT and compatibles. > > What IS GW-BASIC? > > GW-BASIC was a BASIC interpreter derived from IBMâs Advanced > BASIC/BASICA, which itself was a port of Microsoft BASIC. > > Microsoftâs various BASIC implementations can trace their origins all > the way back to Bill Gates & Paul Allenâs implementation of > Microsoftâs first product â a BASIC interpreter for the Altair 8800. > > During the late â70s and 80s, Microsoftâs BASIC was ported to many > OEMâs specific platform and hardware needs, and for several processors > popular at that time, including the 8088, 6502, 6809, Z80, and > others." > > > > Semper Fidelis, > > Geraldo Netto > Sapere Aude => Non dvcor, dvco > site: http://exdev.sf.net > github: https://github.com/geraldo-netto > linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geraldonetto > facebook: https://web.facebook.com/geraldo.netto.161 > > > _______________________________________________ > Freedos-user mailing list > Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user >
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