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submitted 2 days ago by Maerman@lemmy.world to c/opensource@lemmy.ml

So I just read Bill Gates' 1976 Open Letter To Hobbyists, in which he whines about not making more money from his software. You know, instead of being proud of making software that people wanted to use. And then the bastard went on and made proprietary licences for software the industry standard, holding back innovation and freedom for decades. What a douche canoe.

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[-] NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip 25 points 1 day ago

Did you also read that he taught himself code by reading out print outs in the trash? He wanted to close that ability to learn. Shut that open stuff down and make licenses, while he himself learned from others.

[-] ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online 19 points 1 day ago

Didn't he come from a stupidly rich family and had access to a computer (at a time when it was like having access to a helicopter) whenever he wanted to learn and fiddle around? Isn't that where he got the print outs?

[-] aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 1 day ago

Yup. His dad i believe was a renowned lawyer.

[-] ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online 13 points 1 day ago

With connections to the Rockefeller family. Also his mom was the one who convinced IBM to give Bill the contract for MS-DOS (which he bought from some other guy).

[-] aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 1 day ago

yup. It was originally QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System). I believe he ripped the guy off when he bought it? Not sure

[-] nomy@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 day ago

How many 0's are in his bank account?

Yeah, he ripped that guy off.

[-] aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 day ago

not necessarily. There's no saying if QDOS would have taken off if Gates and co hadn't bought it. Also, Gates and co got their start because Gates' mother put in a good word at IBM to get a contract. So had that not happened, we may not have windows today. Who's to say.

[-] PokerChips@programming.dev 3 points 1 day ago

If I'm remembering correctly, his mom was on the board of IBM.

[-] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

No. He's a nepo baby.

this post was submitted on 28 Nov 2025
754 points (94.5% liked)

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