Colin's Profile

Member since February 22, 2007

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    Colin Tree

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  1. Comment - Supreme Court Debates Patentability of Software

    (Feb 22, 2007 - 9:44 PM)

    When IBM released the original PC it also released exact circuit diagrams and bios source code. This allowed other companies to create fully functional clones and not break IBM patents.

    My clone PC had various inverted logic gates to keep complete functionality but be a different design.

    It came with a single bios chip, which, when disassembled very closely resembled the IBM bios. In fact there were 6 prom sockets to allow copied IBM proms to be installed for full functionality (which our friendly asian supplier sent in a separate delivery).

    This is what made the PC universal.

    The same was done with the IBM PC-AT.