How we got to Linux. The emergence of software licenses

Continuing with this series of stories about how we got to Linux, let's take care of the software and its licenses

. We had seen how in the 60s, the need to compete as equals with the USSR led the United States to seek interuniversity cooperation by creating a network that would unite the different research centers, and, as the developers of said network created a work methodology that would later be adopted by the free software project communities. Thanks to this methodology, in the 70s a common protocol was developed for all types of connections.

Today it is impossible to find a place where there is no computer. But, in the beginning it was something similar to what today would be an airplane of passengers. Thomas Watson himself, founder of IBM, had said in 1949

I think there is a world market for maybe 5 computers.

To make the research, development and production of this equipment profitable, it was necessary to look for alternative forms of commercialization. For those companies that could not afford to buy or rent equipment, the option arose to rent the airtime and provide the technical know-how

Under this methodology, clients gave the information technology companies the data that needed to be processed and the instructions on how to do it. and they received the result in print several days later. Originally the processing was done one at a time. The so-called batch processing.

How we got to Linux. Sharing software and hardware

In the late 50s, the first time-sharing system was invented that allowed a computer to do another task while waiting for the answer. from a printer or other connected device. This significantly shortened processing times.

Soon, companies that had bought or rented a computer they discovered that they, too, could rent their equipment during unused time. This was so profitable that it not only amortized the purchase cost, it was also a good source of income.

Others were added to the income from the use of the computer and technical advice. When it was possible to access the computers remotely, the rental of space for data storage, special telephone lines to maintain a direct link, and the terminals that allowed access were added.

Some customers needed non-standard software for data processing. This program could be developed by the client himself or by the company that provided the service. Some of these found that a program developed by one client could be easily adapted to the needs of other clients. In exchange for the payment of a royalty to the original developer they began to offer it as an additional service. Software licenses were born.

To understand the paradigm shift that this concept meantWe have to remember that the main computer manufacturers had previously been manufacturers of office machinery that were fundamentally mechanical. The idea that something intangible could be commercialized had never crossed his mind. On the other hand, The big software developers were the American universities, at that time more interested in sharing knowledge than in generating foreign exchange.

As the provision of software through licensing became a business, those who made money from it began to feel annoyed with the hardware manufacturers and their habit of providing it for free. Even the US government described this practice as anticompetitive in an antitrust suit against IBM.

Four years later, in 1974, The United States listed the software as a subject of copyright as it was "the original creation of an author."

At that time AT&T (a company that is going to have a couple of articles to itself) began distributing the first versions of its Unix operating system for free to governments and universities, but without authorizing the redistribution in original form or with modifications.

A decade later, When he had the market captive, he started charging for updates.

And that leaves us at the door of the story of the bearded man and the printer, which will remain for a future article.

I promise that when I finish this part of the series, I will keep my word to include the bibliography.