
In His Own Words: Gary Kildall - EvanAnderson
http://www.computerhistory.org/_static/atchm/in-his-own-words-gary-kildall/
======
VonGuard
If you want to learn more about Gary, watch the Computer Chronicles on YouTube
or Archive.org:
[https://archive.org/details/computerchronicles](https://archive.org/details/computerchronicles)

Gary was a regular on the show, and talked about everything from programming
to printers over the course of many years on the program.

This episode in particular is all about Gary:
[https://archive.org/details/GaryKild](https://archive.org/details/GaryKild)

~~~
rbanffy
I like to describe him as "Imagine a Bill Gates, but cool".

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zeveb
> Unfortunately Gary’s passion for life also manifested in a struggle with
> alcoholism, and we feel that the unpublished preface and later chapters do
> not reflect his true self.

Well, he wrote them, so presumably they reflect some part of himself. I hope
that they've not destroyed them; future generations should be able to see his
work as he wrote it.

~~~
cfmcdonald
It's sad to me that a historical institution is bowdlerizing history.

~~~
kbenson
That's text from his children, reprinted in the article, but clearly
attributed.

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rmason
I think it is long overdue for there to be a proper of biography of Gary
Kildall. Really surprised that no one has done it. Know that I'd buy it.

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jpschwinghamer
The Internet History Podcast did a great episode on Mr. Kildall.

[https://soundcloud.com/internethistorypodcast/100-the-man-
wh...](https://soundcloud.com/internethistorypodcast/100-the-man-who-could-
have-been-bill-gates-the-gary-kildall-story)

[http://www.internethistorypodcast.com/2016/03/the-man-who-
co...](http://www.internethistorypodcast.com/2016/03/the-man-who-could-have-
been-bill-gates-the-gary-kildall-story/#tabpanel4)

~~~
shadesof
Probably my favorite TIHP episode.

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ontouchstart
Did a google search on Algo B5500 and found this:

ftp://ftp.cs.washington.edu/tr/1970/09/UW-CSE-70-09-04.PDF

~~~
ontouchstart
More interesting links about B5500

[https://github.com/pkimpel/retro-b5500](https://github.com/pkimpel/retro-b5500)

[http://www.retrocomputingtasmania.com/home/projects/burrough...](http://www.retrocomputingtasmania.com/home/projects/burroughs-b5500)

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meadori
Definitely an amazing person. Folks tend to primarily focus on his
contributions to the PC ecosystem. I am surprised more don't mention his work
on data-flow analysis. It was such a significant contribution to the compiler
world.

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yuhong
[http://www.os2museum.com/wp/before-os2-was-
os2/](http://www.os2museum.com/wp/before-os2-was-os2/)

I assume that most users of S-100 systems were technical users who know for
example how to modify the CP/M BIOS code, right?

~~~
fernly
A number of small companies sold packaged S-100 systems with customized CP/M
provided. I bought an S-100 bus box from "California Computer Systems" which
included a serial port board and disk interface board, and they provided a
BIOS set up for those devices. They also provided the source, and over a
couple of years I modified the BIOS several times, adding devices and
improving things generally. But lots of people bought turnkey systems like the
Sol [1] and IMSAI [2] and never touched the BIOS.

[1]
[http://www.oldcomputers.net/sol-20.html](http://www.oldcomputers.net/sol-20.html)

[2] [http://imsai.net/](http://imsai.net/)

~~~
digi_owl
I do wonder if there is room for a solution like the S-100 bus these days.
That is perhaps the one thing that irks me about todays computers, that the
motherboard is dictated by the CPU socket soldered on.

~~~
mark-r
The capabilities built into today's chip sets and motherboards is just insane.
This weekend was the first time I plugged a board into a PC in over 10 years,
to add USB 3.0 to a system too old to have had it already. The last PC I put
together was based on a mini-ITX motherboard, simply because I knew from
experience that I wouldn't need anything more expandable than that.

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pcunite
Page 30 (in the PDF) is excellent in how Gary made a decision to be an
Instructor in Mathematics and Computer Science.

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cmrdporcupine
It's too bad it stops where it does, I wanted to hear about the development of
GEM.

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ilostmykeys
chilling and wonderful at once, in how his family recalls him

