From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.8 required=5.0 tests=HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS, MAILING_LIST_MULTI,T_SCC_BODY_TEXT_LINE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (minnie.tuhs.org [50.116.15.146]) by inbox.vuxu.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5DFB325470 for ; Fri, 15 Mar 2024 23:28:05 +0100 (CET) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [IPv6:::1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 37C7743143; Sat, 16 Mar 2024 08:28:01 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mcvoy.com (mcvoy.com [192.169.23.250]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 3887243134 for ; Sat, 16 Mar 2024 08:27:53 +1000 (AEST) Received: by mcvoy.com (Postfix, from userid 3546) id A062135E9EA; Fri, 15 Mar 2024 15:27:52 -0700 (PDT) Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2024 15:27:52 -0700 From: Larry McVoy To: Douglas McIlroy Message-ID: <20240315222752.GB6396@mcvoy.com> References: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.24 (2015-08-30) Message-ID-Hash: 2NFAK6G7AXSPRI2SCH5WVXSGZTJ26T5A X-Message-ID-Hash: 2NFAK6G7AXSPRI2SCH5WVXSGZTJ26T5A X-MailFrom: lm@mcvoy.com X-Mailman-Rule-Misses: dmarc-mitigation; no-senders; approved; emergency; loop; banned-address; member-moderation; nonmember-moderation; administrivia; implicit-dest; max-recipients; max-size; news-moderation; no-subject; digests; suspicious-header CC: TUHS main list X-Mailman-Version: 3.3.6b1 Precedence: list Subject: [TUHS] Re: The Mark Williams Company and Coherent List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list Archived-At: List-Archive: List-Help: List-Owner: List-Post: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: On Fri, Mar 15, 2024 at 05:23:44PM -0400, Douglas McIlroy wrote: > > There was lawyerly concern about the code being stolen. > > Not always misplaced. There was a guy in Boston who sold Unix look-alike > programs. A quick look at the binary revealed perfect correlation with our > C source. Coincidentally, DEC had hired this person as a consultant in > connection with cross-licensing negotiations with AT&T. Socializing at > the end of a day's negotiations, our lawyer somehow managed to turn the > conversation to software piracy. He discussed a case he was working on, > and happened to have some documents about it in his briefcase. He pulled > out a page disassembled binary and a page of source code and showed them to > the consultant. > > After a little study, the consultant confidently opined that the binary was > obviously compiled from that source. "Would it surprise you," the lawyer > asked, "if I told you that this is yours and that is ours?" The consultant > did not attend the following day's meeting. Oh come on, you can leave that juicy story there. What happened next? -- --- Larry McVoy Retired to fishing http://www.mcvoy.com/lm/boat