To me, the most critical thing in the hobby market right now is the lack of good software courses, books and software itself. Without good software and an owner who understands programming, a hobby computer is wasted. Will quality software be written for the hobby market?
Almost a year ago, Paul Allen and myself, expecting the hobby market to expand, hired Monte Davidoff and developed Altair BASIC. Though the initial work took only two mont
From: "How to Become As Rich As Bill Gates" http://philip.greenspun.com/bg/ [greenspun.com] """ William Henry Gates III made his best decision on October 28, 1955, the night he was born. He chose J.W. Maxwell as his great-grandfather. Maxwell founded Seattle's National City Bank in 1906. His son, James Willard Maxwell was also a banker and established a million-dollar trust fund for William (Bill) Henry Gates III. In some of the later lessons, you will be encouraged to take entrepreneurial risks.
More on what dumpster diving meant to Bill Gates: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=437640&cid=22255952 [slashdot.org] """ Interviewer: Is studying computer science the best way to prepare to be a programmer? Bill Gates: No. the best way to prepare is to write programs, and to study great programs that other people have written. In my case, I went to the garbage cans at the Computer Science Center and I fished out listings of their operating system. You got to be willing to read other people's code, then write your own, then have other people review your code. You've got to want to be in this incredible feedback loop where you get the world-class people to tell you what you're doing wrong. """
Interesting that Microsoft can accuse others of "stealing" their software, but he advocates reading through other people's source code that he had no permission to access?
It's a shame that MS doesn't let other people learn from their software by releasing the source (even if only for older products), if they really thought that is the best way to learn.
I do hope MS have good hard drive destruction procedures - if someone managed to fish out some MS source code recovered from a discarded company PC, it would
You got to be willing to read other people's code, then write your own, then have other people review your code. You've got to want to be in this incredible feedback loop where you get the world-class people to tell you what you're doing wrong.
Quite a clear endorsement of the open source model. And if the source he dived for had had an explicit open source license, he not only would have had every right to take them, but he could have insisted on having it:-)
"Love your country but never trust its government."
-- from a hand-painted road sign in central Pennsylvania
Bill Gates wrote to me for money in 1976 (Score:5, Interesting)
By William Henry Gates III
February 3, 1976
An Open Letter to Hobbyists
To me, the most critical thing in the hobby market right now is the lack of good software courses, books and software itself. Without good software and an owner who understands programming, a hobby computer is wasted. Will quality software be written for the hobby market?
Almost a year ago, Paul Allen and myself, expecting the hobby market to expand, hired Monte Davidoff and developed Altair BASIC. Though the initial work took only two mont
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
From:
"How to Become As Rich As Bill Gates"
http://philip.greenspun.com/bg/ [greenspun.com]
"""
William Henry Gates III made his best decision on October 28, 1955, the night he was born. He chose J.W. Maxwell as his great-grandfather. Maxwell founded Seattle's National City Bank in 1906. His son, James Willard Maxwell was also a banker and established a million-dollar trust fund for William (Bill) Henry Gates III. In some of the later lessons, you will be encouraged to take entrepreneurial risks.
Re:Bill Gates wrote to me for money in 1976 (Score:5, Informative)
More on what dumpster diving meant to Bill Gates:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=437640&cid=22255952 [slashdot.org]
"""
Interviewer: Is studying computer science the best way to prepare to be a programmer?
Bill Gates: No. the best way to prepare is to write programs, and to study great programs that other people have written. In my case, I went to the garbage cans at the Computer Science Center and I fished out listings of their operating system. You got to be willing to read other people's code, then write your own, then have other people review your code. You've got to want to be in this incredible feedback loop where you get the world-class people to tell you what you're doing wrong.
"""
Re: (Score:1)
Interesting that Microsoft can accuse others of "stealing" their software, but he advocates reading through other people's source code that he had no permission to access?
It's a shame that MS doesn't let other people learn from their software by releasing the source (even if only for older products), if they really thought that is the best way to learn.
I do hope MS have good hard drive destruction procedures - if someone managed to fish out some MS source code recovered from a discarded company PC, it would
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Quite a clear endorsement of the open source model. And if the source he dived for had had an explicit open source license, he not only would have had every right to take them, but he could have insisted on having it :-)