Re: [Pan-users] Re: OT: freedomware vs... Was: Building Pan onWindows?

[walt]

On 03/07/2010 04:39 PM, Duncan wrote:

> FWIW, ZA Pro was I believe the last MSWormOS software I actually paid for,
> before switching to Linux full-time...

You're probably too young to remember this, and I still can't believe it
myself, but I am holding in my hands Volume 1 (of 8) entitled "IBM Personal
Computer XENIX Operating System Version 2.0".

Big deal, you may well say.  However, in very small print near the bottom
of the cover page:  "XENIX is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation".

I remember that anyone was free to copy the diskettes containing the OS
itself -- but we had to pay big bucks to MS for the eight-volume set of
documentation for XENIX (which I still have, thirty years after XENIX bit
the dust).  Funny to think we happily paid the big bucks for the eight
volumes of documentation because we copied the OS for free.  Bill was
never stupid, not for a nanosecond.