[Coco] (Probably stupid and newbie-ish) CoCo hardware question

[Frank Swygert]

That's it! MS's practice back then was to sell a license that allowed the purchasing company to copy and sell as many as they needed for a small royalty for each sale (you can make money by selling lots of copies for a little, or a few for a lot). MS still retained copyright to the code, and the company had to enter a new agreement to make changes to the code. Tandy shouldn't have even had the source code to alter -- it would have to have been reverse engineered, which was strictly forbidden by the MS licensing agreement. Modifications would call for a new license, which would have driven up cost for Tandy. I'm sure MW didn't charge near as mush as MS would have, if MS would have even done the job. Probably would have for the right money, but that's why you sometimes get an astronomical price for a car paint job and other work (house remodeling, etc.). The shop doesn't really want the job, but for the right price they'll get over it!

Boisy -- you haven't looked at "Tandy's Little Wonder" real good, have you? I'm reasonably sure that info is in there, but I haven't checked. I'm sure you want to do your own thing, but if you'd like to revamp TLW or use it as a basis for another book let me know. I think I can give you permission to do that with certain provisions (none involving money).

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Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2012 19:39:17 -0500
From: "Boisy G. Pitre"<boisy at tee-boy.com>

Take it from an ex-Microware engineer and employee who questioned the source directly.

Mark Hawkins and I had a conversation about the CoCo 3 project years ago.  He told me then, personally and specifically, that ROM to RAM and subsequent patching was the approach that they (Microware) took in '86 to avoid any legal entanglements with Microsoft.  I don't know if Tandy advised them to do it, or if Microware made the suggestion, but legality was the motivating factor for the approach that was taken.

What we need is a book that brings all of this information in... something I've been working off and on for a long time....

-- 
Frank Swygert
Editor - American Motors Cars Magazine
www.amc-mag.com