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Gary Kildall

Gary Arlen Kildall (/ˈkɪldˌɔːl/; May 19, 1942 – July 11, 1994) was an American computer scientist and microcomputer entrepreneur.

Gary Kildall
Born(1942-05-19)May 19, 1942
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
DiedJuly 11, 1994(1994-07-11) (aged 52)
Resting placeEvergreen Washelli Memorial Park
Alma materUniversity of Washington[1][2]
Occupations
  • Computer scientist
  • entrepreneur
Years active1972–1994
Known for
TitleFounder, chairman and CEO of Digital Research
Board member ofDigital Research
Spouse(s)Dorothy McEwen Kildall
Karen Kildall[3]
ChildrenScott and Kristen[4]
Signature

During the 1970s, Kildall created the CP/M operating system among other operating systems and programming tools,[5] and subsequently founded Digital Research, Inc. (or "DRI") to market and sell his software products. Kildall was among the earliest individuals to recognize microprocessors as fully capable computers (rather than simply as equipment controllers), and to organize a company around this concept.[6] Due to his accomplishments during this era, Kildall is considered a pioneer of the personal computer revolution.[6][7]

During the 1980s, Kildall also appeared on PBS as co-host (with Stewart Cheifet) of Computer Chronicles, a weekly informational program which covered the latest developments in personal computing.

Although Kildall's entrepreneurial career in computing spanned more than two decades, he is mainly remembered in connection with his development of the CP/M operating system, an early multi-platform microcomputer OS that has many parallels to the later MS-DOS used on the IBM PC.

Early life

Gary Kildall was born and grew up in Seattle, Washington, where his family operated a seamanship school. His father, Joseph Kildall, was a captain of Norwegian heritage. His mother Emma was of half Swedish descent, as Kildall's grandmother was born in Långbäck, Sweden, in Skellefteå Municipality, but emigrated to Canada at 23 years of age.[8]

A self-described "greaser" during high school,[5]: 12  Kildall later attended the University of Washington (UW), hoping to become a mathematics teacher. During his studies, Kildall became increasingly interested in computer technology. After receiving his degree in 1972,[1][9] he fulfilled a draft obligation to the United States Navy by teaching at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California.[10] Being within an hour's drive of Silicon Valley, Kildall heard about the first commercially available microprocessor, the Intel 4004. He bought one of the processors and began writing experimental programs for it. To learn more about the processors, he worked at Intel as a consultant on his days off.

Kildall briefly returned to UW and finished his doctorate in computer science in 1972,[2] then resumed teaching at NPS. He published a paper that introduced the theory of data-flow analysis used today in optimizing compilers[11] (sometimes known as Kildall's method), and he continued to experiment with microcomputers and the emerging technology of floppy disks. Intel lent him systems using the 8008 and 8080 processors, and in 1973, he developed the first high-level programming language for microprocessors, called PL/M.[10] For Intel he also wrote an 8080 instruction set simulator named INTERP/80. He created CP/M the same year to enable the 8080 to control a floppy drive, combining for the first time all the essential components of a computer at the microcomputer scale. He demonstrated CP/M to Intel, but Intel had little interest and chose to market PL/M instead.[10]

Business career

CP/M

Kildall and his wife Dorothy established a company, originally called "Intergalactic Digital Research" (later renamed as Digital Research, Inc.), to market CP/M through advertisements in hobbyist magazines. Digital Research licensed CP/M for the IMSAI 8080, a popular clone of the Altair 8800. As more manufacturers licensed CP/M, it became a de facto standard and had to support an increasing number of hardware variations. In response, Kildall pioneered the concept of a BIOS, a set of simple programs stored in the computer hardware (ROM or EPROM chip) that enabled CP/M to run on different systems without modification.[10]

CP/M's quick success took Kildall by surprise, and he was slow to update it for high density floppy disks and hard disk drives.[citation needed] After hardware manufacturers talked about creating a rival operating system, Kildall started a rush project to develop CP/M 2.[12] By 1981, at the peak of its popularity, CP/M ran on 3000 different computer models and DRI had US$5.4 million in yearly revenues.[10]

IBM dealings

IBM approached Digital Research in 1980, at Bill Gates' suggestion,[13] to negotiate the purchase of a forthcoming version of CP/M called CP/M-86 for the IBM PC. Gary had left negotiations to his wife, Dorothy, as he usually did, while he and colleague and developer of MP/M operating system Tom Rolander used Gary's private aeroplane to deliver software to manufacturer Bill Godbout.[6][14] Before the IBM representatives would explain the purpose of their visit, they insisted that Dorothy sign a non-disclosure agreement. On the advice of DRI attorney Gerry Davis, Dorothy refused to sign the agreement without Gary's approval. Gary returned in the afternoon and tried to move the discussion with IBM forward, and accounts disagree on whether he signed the non-disclosure agreement, as well as whether he ever met with the IBM representatives.[15]

Various reasons have been given for the two companies failing to reach an agreement. DRI, which had only a few products, might have been unwilling to sell its main product to IBM for a one-time payment rather than its usual royalty-based plan.[16] Dorothy might have believed that the company could not deliver CP/M-86 on IBM's proposed schedule, as the company was busy developing an implementation of the PL/I programming language for Data General.[7] Also possible, the IBM representatives might have been annoyed that DRI had spent hours on what they considered a routine formality.[14] According to Kildall, the IBM representatives took the same flight to Florida that night that he and Dorothy took for their vacation, and they negotiated further on the flight, reaching a handshake agreement. IBM lead negotiator Jack Sams insisted that he never met Gary, and one IBM colleague has confirmed that Sams said so at the time. He accepted that someone else in his group might have been on the same flight, and noted that he flew back to Seattle to talk with Microsoft again.[14]

Sams related the story to Gates, who had already agreed to provide a BASIC interpreter and several other programs for the PC. Gates' impression of the story was that Gary capriciously "went flying", as he would later tell reporters.[17] Sams left Gates with the task of finding a usable operating system, and a few weeks later he proposed using the operating system 86-DOS—an independently developed operating system that implemented Kildall's CP/M API—from Seattle Computer Products (SCP). Paul Allen negotiated a licensing deal with SCP. Allen had 86-DOS adapted for IBM's hardware, and IBM shipped it as IBM PC DOS.[15]

Kildall obtained a copy of PC DOS, examined it, and concluded that it infringed on CP/M. When he asked Gerry Davis what legal options were available, Davis told him that intellectual property law for software was not clear enough to sue.[18] Instead Kildall only threatened IBM with legal action, and IBM responded with a proposal to offer CP/M-86 as an option for the PC in return for a release of liability.[19] Kildall accepted, believing that IBM's new system (like its previous personal computers) would not be a significant commercial success.[20] When the IBM PC was introduced, IBM sold its operating system as an unbundled option. One of the operating system options was PC DOS, priced at US$40. PC DOS was seen as a practically necessary option; most software titles required it and without it the IBM PC was limited to its built-in Cassette BASIC. CP/M-86 shipped a few months later six times more expensive at US$240, and sold poorly against DOS and enjoyed far less software support.[6]

Later work

With the loss of the IBM deal, Gary and Dorothy found themselves under pressure to bring in more experienced management, and Gary's influence over the company waned. He worked in various experimental and research projects, such as a version of CP/M with multitasking (MP/M) and an implementation of the Logo programming language.[10] He hoped that Logo, an educational dialect of LISP, would supplant BASIC in education, but it did not.[21] After seeing a demonstration of the Apple Lisa, Kildall oversaw the creation of DRI's own graphical user interface, called GEM. Novell acquired DRI in 1991 in a deal that netted millions for Kildall.[18]

Kildall resigned as CEO of Digital Research on 28 June 1985, but remained chairman of the board.[22]

Kildall also pursued computing-related projects outside DRI. During the seven years from 1983 to 1990 he co-hosted a public television program on the side, called Computer Chronicles, that followed trends in personal computing.

In 1984 he started another company, Activenture, which adapted optical disc technology for computer use.[23] In early 1985 it was renamed KnowledgeSet and released the first computer encyclopedia in June 1985, a CD-ROM version of Grolier's Academic American Encyclopedia[15][23][7] named The Electronic Encyclopedia,[24] later acquired by Banta Corporation.[25] Kildall's final business venture, known as Prometheus Light and Sound (PLS) and based in Austin, Texas, developed a modular PBX communication system[10] that integrated land-line telephones with mobile phones (called "Intelliphone") to reduce the then-high online costs and to remotely connect with home appliances.[26] It included a UUCP-based store and forward system to exchange emails and files between the various nodes and was planned to include TCP/IP support at a later point in time.

Personal life

Kildall's colleagues recall him as creative, easygoing, and adventurous. In addition to flying, he loved sports cars, auto racing, and boating, and had a lifelong love of the sea.[6][10]

I think I’ll make a cassette tape of the ‘IBM Flying Story.’ I’ll carry a few copies in my jacket to give out on occasion. There’s only one problem. I [will] tell this story [to someone], and after I’m done, the same person [will say], ‘Yeah, but did you go flying and blow IBM off?’

Gary Kildall, Computer Connections[7]

Although Kildall preferred to leave the IBM affair in the past and to be known for his work before and afterward, he continually faced comparisons between himself and Bill Gates, as well as fading memories of his contributions. A legend grew around the fateful IBM-DRI meeting, encouraged by Gates and various journalists,[17][27] suggesting that Kildall had irresponsibly taken the day off for a recreational flight.[7]

In later years, Kildall privately expressed bitter feelings about being overshadowed by Microsoft,[10] and began suffering from alcoholism.[18][28]

Selling DRI to Novell had made Kildall a wealthy man, and he moved to the West Lake Hills suburb of Austin. His Austin house was a lakeside property, with stalls for several sports cars, and a video studio in the basement. Kildall owned and flew his own Learjet and had at least one boat on the lake. While in Austin he also participated in volunteer efforts to assist children with HIV/AIDS. He also owned a mansion with a panoramic ocean view in Pebble Beach, California, near the headquarters of DRI.

Computer Connections

In 1992, Kildall was invited to the University of Washington computer science program's 25th anniversary event. As a distinguished graduate of the program, Kildall was disappointed when asked to attend simply as an audience member. He also took offense at the decision to give the keynote speech to Bill Gates, a Harvard dropout who had donated to UW, but had never attended.[7]

In response, Kildall began writing a memoir, entitled Computer Connections: People, Places, and Events in the Evolution of the Personal Computer Industry.[18] The memoir,[29][30][5] which Kildall sought to publish, expressed his frustration that people did not seem to value elegance in computer software.[21]

Don't think for a minute that [Bill] Gates made it 'big time' because of his technical savvy.

Gary Kildall, Computer Connections[5]: 62 

Writing about Bill Gates, Kildall described him as "more of an opportunist than a technical type, and severely opinionated, even when the opinion he holds is absurd."[5]: 62 

In an appendix, he called DOS "plain and simple theft"[31] because its first 26 system calls worked the same as CP/M's.[32] He accused IBM of contriving the price difference between PC DOS and CP/M-86 in order to marginalize CP/M.[7]

Kildall had completed a rough draft of the manuscript by the end of 1993,[5] but the full text remains unpublished. Journalist Harold Evans used the memoir as a primary source for a chapter about Kildall in the 2004 book They Made America, concluding that Microsoft had robbed Kildall of his inventions.[7] IBM veterans from the PC project disputed the book's description of events, and Microsoft described it as "one-sided and inaccurate."[18]

In August 2016, Kildall's family made the first seven chapters of Computer Connections available as a free public download.[30][29][5]

Death

On July 8, 1994, at the age of 52,[9] Kildall sustained a head injury at the Franklin Street Bar & Grill, a biker bar in Monterey, California.[33] The exact circumstances of the injury are unclear. Various sources have claimed he fell from a chair, fell down steps, or was assaulted because he had entered the establishment wearing Harley-Davidson leathers.[16] Harold Evans, in They Made America, states that Kildall "stumbled and hit his head" inside the premises, and "was found on the floor."[7]

Following the injury, Kildall was discharged from the hospital twice. He was pronounced dead at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, on July 11, 1994.

An autopsy, conducted on July 12, did not conclusively determine the cause of death.[32][4] Evans states that Kildall's head injury triggered a cerebral hemorrhage, causing a blood clot to form inside the skull.[7] A CP/M Usenet FAQ states that Kildall was concussed due to his injury, and died of a heart attack; the connection between the two is unclear.[34]

Initial news reports and police investigation viewed Kildall's death as a possible homicide. According to the coroner's report, Kildall's fatal injury may have taken place "as a result of foul play," and the case was referred to the Monterey Police Department. "We're going to investigate it as a possible homicide," said police Sgt. Frank Sollecito. "I'm not going to flat-out say it's a homicide."[35]

Kildall's body was cremated. His remains were buried in Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park, in north Seattle.[7]

Recognition

Following the announcement of Kildall's death, Bill Gates commented that he was "one of the original pioneers of the PC revolution" and "a very creative computer scientist who did excellent work. Although we were competitors, I always had tremendous respect for his contributions to the PC industry. His untimely death was very unfortunate and his work will be missed."[6]

In March 1995, Kildall was posthumously honored by the Software Publishers Association (SPA) for his contributions to the microcomputer industry:[36][37][10]

In April 2014, the city of Pacific Grove installed a commemorative plaque outside Kildall's former residence, which also served as the early headquarters of Digital Research.[43]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Kildall, Gary Arlen (December 1968). Experiments in large-scale computer direct access storage manipulation (M.Sc. thesis). University of Washington. Thesis No. 17341.
  2. ^ a b Kildall, Gary Arlen (May 1972). Global expression optimization during compilation (Ph.D. dissertation). Seattle, Washington, USA: University of Washington, Computer Science Group. Thesis No. 20506, Technical Report No. 72-06-02.
  3. ^ O'Connor, Rory J. "PC pioneer Kildall dies in Monterey". wearcam.org. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  4. ^ a b Markoff, John Gregory (1994-07-13). "Gary Kildall, 52, Crucial Player In Computer Development, Dies". The New York Times. p. D19. from the original on 2017-08-24.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Kildall, Gary Arlen (2016-08-02) [1993]. Kildall, Scott; Kildall, Kristin (eds.). Computer Connections: People, Places, and Events in the Evolution of the Personal Computer Industry (Manuscript, part 1). Kildall Family. Archived from the original on 2016-11-17. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Special Edition: Gary Kildall". The Computer Chronicles. 1995. from the original on 2014-07-02. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Evans, Harold; Buckland, Gail; Lefer, David (2004). They Made America: From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine: Two Centuries of Innovators. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0-316-27766-2.
  8. ^ Andersson, Ulrika (2009-01-19). . Norra Västerbotten (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2009-05-24. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  9. ^ a b Bishop, Todd (2014-04-25). "'A real inventor': UW's Gary Kildall, father of the PC operating system, honored for key work". GeekWire. Retrieved 2022-06-22.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Swaine, Michael (1997-04-01). "Gary Kildall and Collegial Entrepreneurship". Dr. Dobb's Journal. from the original on 2007-01-24. Retrieved 2006-11-20.
  11. ^ Kildall, Gary Arlen (1973-10-01). "A Unified Approach to Global Program Optimization" (PDF). Proceedings of the 1st Annual ACM SIGACT-SIGPLAN Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages (POPL). Boston, Massachusetts, USA: 194–206. doi:10.1145/512927.512945. hdl:10945/42162. S2CID 10219496. (PDF) from the original on 2017-06-29. Retrieved 2006-11-20. ([1])
  12. ^ Eubanks, Gordon. Akass, Clive (ed.). "Interview: Gordon Eubanks, Former Student & CEO of Oblix, Inc". Recollections of Gary Kildall (Interview). DigitalResearch.biz. from the original on 2006-12-09. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
  13. ^ Isaacson, Walter (2014). The Innovators: How a Group of Inventors, Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution. Simon & Schuster. p. 358. ISBN 978-1476708690.
  14. ^ a b c Wallace, James; Erickson, Jim (1993). Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire. New York: HarperBusiness. ISBN 0-88730-629-2.
  15. ^ a b c Freiberger, Paul; Swaine, Michael (2000) [1984]. Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer (2nd ed.). New York, N.Y., USA: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-135892-7.
  16. ^ a b Young, Jeffrey (1997-07-07). "Gary Kildall: The DOS That Wasn't". Forbes. from the original on 2011-06-23. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
  17. ^ a b Manes, Stephen; Andrews, Paul (1992). Gates: How Microsoft's Mogul Reinvented an Industry—and Made Himself the Richest Man in America. Doubleday. ISBN 0-671-88074-8.
  18. ^ a b c d e Hamm, Steve; Greene, Jay (2004-10-25). . BusinessWeek. Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on 2012-06-29. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
  19. ^ Eubanks, Gordon (2000-11-08). Morrow, Daniel S. (ed.). (PDF). Computerworld Honors Program International Archives (Interview). Cupertino, CA, USA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-26. Retrieved 2006-11-20.
  20. ^ Rolander, Tom (2007-08-08). Scoble, Robert (ed.). "Scoble Show". PodTech.net (Interview). from the original on 2016-11-11. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  21. ^ a b Rolander, Tom (1994-07-15). "In Memory of GARY A. KILDALL May 19, 1942 -- July 11, 1994". Tom Rolander's Website and Album (Memorial service). Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif., USA. from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
  22. ^ Burton, Kathleen (1985-07-29). "Cash-short Digital Research cuts staff, seeks investors". Computerworld - The Newsweekly for the Computer Community. Computer Industry. Vol. XIX, no. 30. Monterey, California, USA: CW Communications, Inc. p. 72. ISSN 0010-4841. from the original on 2020-02-17. Retrieved 2020-02-17.
  23. ^ a b Allan, Roy A. (2001). A History of the Personal Computer - The People and the Technology (ebook) (1 ed.). Allan Publishing. ISBN 0-9689108-3-1. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  24. ^ Stark, Craig L. (1986-04-29). "CD ROM Conference: Lured by 600 Megabytes on Disk". PC Magazine: 42. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  25. ^ "Tom Rolander - Serial entrepreneur and Emergent Farming co-founder". Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  26. ^ Huitt, Robert; Eubanks, Gordon; Rolander, Thomas "Tom" Alan; Laws, David; Michel, Howard E.; Halla, Brian; Wharton, John Harrison; Berg, Brian; Su, Weilian; Kildall, Scott; Kampe, Bill (2014-04-25). Laws, David (ed.). "Legacy of Gary Kildall: The CP/M IEEE Milestone Dedication" (PDF) (video transscription). Pacific Grove, California, USA: Computer History Museum. CHM Reference number: X7170.2014. (PDF) from the original on 2014-12-27. Retrieved 2020-01-19. (33 pages) [2][3]
  27. ^ Cringely, Robert X. (1992). Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can't Get a Date. ISBN 978-0887308550.
  28. ^ Rivlin, Gary (1999). The Plot to Get Bill Gates. Crown Business. ISBN 978-0-8129-3006-1.
  29. ^ a b Shustek, Len (2016-08-02). "In His Own Words: Gary Kildall". Remarkable People. Computer History Museum. from the original on 2016-12-17. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
  30. ^ a b Perry, Tekla S. (2016-08-03). "CP/M Creator Gary Kildall's Memoirs Released as Free Download". IEEE Spectrum. from the original on 2016-11-17. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
  31. ^ "A Career Spent in Gates' Shadow -- Computer Pioneer Dies at 52". www.tech-insider.org. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  32. ^ a b Andrews, Paul (1994-07-14). "A Career Spent in Gates' Shadow—Computer Pioneer Dies at 52". The Seattle Times. from the original on 2017-10-13. Retrieved 2017-04-29.
  33. ^ Akass, Clive (2006-08-11). . Personal Computer World. Archived from the original on 2008-10-11.
  34. ^ Kirkpatrick, Don (1999-01-12). "comp.os.cpm Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)". from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2006-11-20.
  35. ^ Whitely, Peyton (7-16-1994) "Computer Pioneer's Death Probed -- Kildall Called Possible Victim Of Homicide" Seattle Times, https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19940716&slug=1920582
  36. ^ Wharton, John Harrison (1994-08-01). "Gary Kildall, industry pioneer, dead at 52: created first microcomputer languages, disk operating systems". Microprocessor Report. MicroDesign Resources Inc. (MDR). 8 (10). from the original on 2016-11-18. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  37. ^ "SPA Award to Dr. Gary A. Kildall: 1995 SPA Lifetime Achievement Award Winner". Software Publishers Association (SPA). 1995-03-13. Archived from the original on 2019-12-21. Retrieved 2019-12-21 – via www.digitalresearch.biz.
  38. ^ Kildall, Gary Arlen (June 1975), CP/M 1.1 or 1.2 BIOS and BDOS for Lawrence Livermore Laboratories
  39. ^ Kildall, Gary Arlen (January 1980). "The History of CP/M, The Evolution of an Industry: One Person's Viewpoint". Dr. Dobb's Journal of Computer Calisthenics & Orthodontia. 5 (1): 6–7. #41. from the original on 2016-11-24. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
  40. ^ Killian, A. Joseph "Joe" (2001). "Gary Kildall's CP/M: Some early CP/M history - 1976-1977". Thomas "Todd" Fischer, IMSAI. from the original on 2012-12-29. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
  41. ^ Fraley, Bob; Spicer, Dag (2007-01-26). (PDF). Computer History Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
  42. ^ Digital Research (1981). XLT86 - 8080 to 8086 Assembly Language Translator - User's Guide (PDF). Pacific Grove, California, USA: Digital Research, Inc. (PDF) from the original on 2016-11-18. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  43. ^ Sammon, John (2014-04-27). . The Monterey County Herald. Archived from the original on 2014-05-08.

Further reading

  • Goldman Rohm, Wendy (1998-09-01). The Microsoft File - The Secret Case Against Bill Gates (1 ed.). IDG. ISBN 88-11-73868-7. [4]
  • Laws, David (2014-02-26). "Gary Kildall and the 40th Anniversary of the Birth of the PC Operating System". Remarkable People. Computer History Museum. from the original on 2016-11-19. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  • "IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing - CP/M - Microcomputer Operating System, 1974" (PDF). Computer History Museum. 2014-04-25. (PDF) from the original on 2019-04-03. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  • Libes, Sol (1995). . Amateur Computer Group of New Jersey. Archived from the original on 2016-11-19.
  • Kildall, Gary Arlen (2016-08-02) [1993]. Kildall, Scott; Kildall, Kristin (eds.). Computer Connections: People, Places, and Events in the Evolution of the Personal Computer Industry (Manuscript, part 1). Kildall Family. (PDF) from the original on 2016-11-17. Retrieved 2016-11-17. (Part 2 not released due to family privacy reasons.)
  • Ness, Stephen A. (2017-10-21) [2016, 2014]. "CP/M Source". from the original on 2020-02-25. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
  • (PDF). Naval Postgraduate School (NPS). 2017-04-21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-01-02. Retrieved 2020-02-25. (18 pages)

External links

  • "Dr. Gary A. Kildall". MaxFrame Corporation.
  • at the Wayback Machine (archived 2004-10-10)

gary, kildall, gary, arlen, kildall, ɔː, 1942, july, 1994, american, computer, scientist, microcomputer, entrepreneur, kildall, european, development, centre, hungerford, united, kingdom, 1988born, 1942, 1942seattle, washington, diedjuly, 1994, 1994, aged, mon. Gary Arlen Kildall ˈ k ɪ l d ˌ ɔː l May 19 1942 July 11 1994 was an American computer scientist and microcomputer entrepreneur Gary KildallKildall at the European Development Centre EDC in Hungerford United Kingdom 1988Born 1942 05 19 May 19 1942Seattle Washington U S DiedJuly 11 1994 1994 07 11 aged 52 Monterey California U S Resting placeEvergreen Washelli Memorial ParkAlma materUniversity of Washington 1 2 OccupationsComputer scientistentrepreneurYears active1972 1994Known forCreator of CP MPioneer of the personal computer revolutionTitleFounder chairman and CEO of Digital ResearchBoard member ofDigital ResearchSpouse s Dorothy McEwen KildallKaren Kildall 3 ChildrenScott and Kristen 4 SignatureDuring the 1970s Kildall created the CP M operating system among other operating systems and programming tools 5 and subsequently founded Digital Research Inc or DRI to market and sell his software products Kildall was among the earliest individuals to recognize microprocessors as fully capable computers rather than simply as equipment controllers and to organize a company around this concept 6 Due to his accomplishments during this era Kildall is considered a pioneer of the personal computer revolution 6 7 During the 1980s Kildall also appeared on PBS as co host with Stewart Cheifet of Computer Chronicles a weekly informational program which covered the latest developments in personal computing Although Kildall s entrepreneurial career in computing spanned more than two decades he is mainly remembered in connection with his development of the CP M operating system an early multi platform microcomputer OS that has many parallels to the later MS DOS used on the IBM PC Contents 1 Early life 2 Business career 2 1 CP M 2 2 IBM dealings 2 3 Later work 3 Personal life 4 Computer Connections 5 Death 6 Recognition 7 See also 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External linksEarly life EditGary Kildall was born and grew up in Seattle Washington where his family operated a seamanship school His father Joseph Kildall was a captain of Norwegian heritage His mother Emma was of half Swedish descent as Kildall s grandmother was born in Langback Sweden in Skelleftea Municipality but emigrated to Canada at 23 years of age 8 A self described greaser during high school 5 12 Kildall later attended the University of Washington UW hoping to become a mathematics teacher During his studies Kildall became increasingly interested in computer technology After receiving his degree in 1972 1 9 he fulfilled a draft obligation to the United States Navy by teaching at the Naval Postgraduate School NPS in Monterey California 10 Being within an hour s drive of Silicon Valley Kildall heard about the first commercially available microprocessor the Intel 4004 He bought one of the processors and began writing experimental programs for it To learn more about the processors he worked at Intel as a consultant on his days off Kildall briefly returned to UW and finished his doctorate in computer science in 1972 2 then resumed teaching at NPS He published a paper that introduced the theory of data flow analysis used today in optimizing compilers 11 sometimes known as Kildall s method and he continued to experiment with microcomputers and the emerging technology of floppy disks Intel lent him systems using the 8008 and 8080 processors and in 1973 he developed the first high level programming language for microprocessors called PL M 10 For Intel he also wrote an 8080 instruction set simulator named INTERP 80 He created CP M the same year to enable the 8080 to control a floppy drive combining for the first time all the essential components of a computer at the microcomputer scale He demonstrated CP M to Intel but Intel had little interest and chose to market PL M instead 10 Business career EditCP M Edit Kildall and his wife Dorothy established a company originally called Intergalactic Digital Research later renamed as Digital Research Inc to market CP M through advertisements in hobbyist magazines Digital Research licensed CP M for the IMSAI 8080 a popular clone of the Altair 8800 As more manufacturers licensed CP M it became a de facto standard and had to support an increasing number of hardware variations In response Kildall pioneered the concept of a BIOS a set of simple programs stored in the computer hardware ROM or EPROM chip that enabled CP M to run on different systems without modification 10 CP M s quick success took Kildall by surprise and he was slow to update it for high density floppy disks and hard disk drives citation needed After hardware manufacturers talked about creating a rival operating system Kildall started a rush project to develop CP M 2 12 By 1981 at the peak of its popularity CP M ran on 3000 different computer models and DRI had US 5 4 million in yearly revenues 10 IBM dealings Edit IBM approached Digital Research in 1980 at Bill Gates suggestion 13 to negotiate the purchase of a forthcoming version of CP M called CP M 86 for the IBM PC Gary had left negotiations to his wife Dorothy as he usually did while he and colleague and developer of MP M operating system Tom Rolander used Gary s private aeroplane to deliver software to manufacturer Bill Godbout 6 14 Before the IBM representatives would explain the purpose of their visit they insisted that Dorothy sign a non disclosure agreement On the advice of DRI attorney Gerry Davis Dorothy refused to sign the agreement without Gary s approval Gary returned in the afternoon and tried to move the discussion with IBM forward and accounts disagree on whether he signed the non disclosure agreement as well as whether he ever met with the IBM representatives 15 Various reasons have been given for the two companies failing to reach an agreement DRI which had only a few products might have been unwilling to sell its main product to IBM for a one time payment rather than its usual royalty based plan 16 Dorothy might have believed that the company could not deliver CP M 86 on IBM s proposed schedule as the company was busy developing an implementation of the PL I programming language for Data General 7 Also possible the IBM representatives might have been annoyed that DRI had spent hours on what they considered a routine formality 14 According to Kildall the IBM representatives took the same flight to Florida that night that he and Dorothy took for their vacation and they negotiated further on the flight reaching a handshake agreement IBM lead negotiator Jack Sams insisted that he never met Gary and one IBM colleague has confirmed that Sams said so at the time He accepted that someone else in his group might have been on the same flight and noted that he flew back to Seattle to talk with Microsoft again 14 Sams related the story to Gates who had already agreed to provide a BASIC interpreter and several other programs for the PC Gates impression of the story was that Gary capriciously went flying as he would later tell reporters 17 Sams left Gates with the task of finding a usable operating system and a few weeks later he proposed using the operating system 86 DOS an independently developed operating system that implemented Kildall s CP M API from Seattle Computer Products SCP Paul Allen negotiated a licensing deal with SCP Allen had 86 DOS adapted for IBM s hardware and IBM shipped it as IBM PC DOS 15 Kildall obtained a copy of PC DOS examined it and concluded that it infringed on CP M When he asked Gerry Davis what legal options were available Davis told him that intellectual property law for software was not clear enough to sue 18 Instead Kildall only threatened IBM with legal action and IBM responded with a proposal to offer CP M 86 as an option for the PC in return for a release of liability 19 Kildall accepted believing that IBM s new system like its previous personal computers would not be a significant commercial success 20 When the IBM PC was introduced IBM sold its operating system as an unbundled option One of the operating system options was PC DOS priced at US 40 PC DOS was seen as a practically necessary option most software titles required it and without it the IBM PC was limited to its built in Cassette BASIC CP M 86 shipped a few months later six times more expensive at US 240 and sold poorly against DOS and enjoyed far less software support 6 Later work Edit With the loss of the IBM deal Gary and Dorothy found themselves under pressure to bring in more experienced management and Gary s influence over the company waned He worked in various experimental and research projects such as a version of CP M with multitasking MP M and an implementation of the Logo programming language 10 He hoped that Logo an educational dialect of LISP would supplant BASIC in education but it did not 21 After seeing a demonstration of the Apple Lisa Kildall oversaw the creation of DRI s own graphical user interface called GEM Novell acquired DRI in 1991 in a deal that netted millions for Kildall 18 Kildall resigned as CEO of Digital Research on 28 June 1985 but remained chairman of the board 22 Kildall also pursued computing related projects outside DRI During the seven years from 1983 to 1990 he co hosted a public television program on the side called Computer Chronicles that followed trends in personal computing In 1984 he started another company Activenture which adapted optical disc technology for computer use 23 In early 1985 it was renamed KnowledgeSet and released the first computer encyclopedia in June 1985 a CD ROM version of Grolier s Academic American Encyclopedia 15 23 7 named The Electronic Encyclopedia 24 later acquired by Banta Corporation 25 Kildall s final business venture known as Prometheus Light and Sound PLS and based in Austin Texas developed a modular PBX communication system 10 that integrated land line telephones with mobile phones called Intelliphone to reduce the then high online costs and to remotely connect with home appliances 26 It included a UUCP based store and forward system to exchange emails and files between the various nodes and was planned to include TCP IP support at a later point in time Personal life EditKildall s colleagues recall him as creative easygoing and adventurous In addition to flying he loved sports cars auto racing and boating and had a lifelong love of the sea 6 10 I think I ll make a cassette tape of the IBM Flying Story I ll carry a few copies in my jacket to give out on occasion There s only one problem I will tell this story to someone and after I m done the same person will say Yeah but did you go flying and blow IBM off Gary Kildall Computer Connections 7 Although Kildall preferred to leave the IBM affair in the past and to be known for his work before and afterward he continually faced comparisons between himself and Bill Gates as well as fading memories of his contributions A legend grew around the fateful IBM DRI meeting encouraged by Gates and various journalists 17 27 suggesting that Kildall had irresponsibly taken the day off for a recreational flight 7 In later years Kildall privately expressed bitter feelings about being overshadowed by Microsoft 10 and began suffering from alcoholism 18 28 Selling DRI to Novell had made Kildall a wealthy man and he moved to the West Lake Hills suburb of Austin His Austin house was a lakeside property with stalls for several sports cars and a video studio in the basement Kildall owned and flew his own Learjet and had at least one boat on the lake While in Austin he also participated in volunteer efforts to assist children with HIV AIDS He also owned a mansion with a panoramic ocean view in Pebble Beach California near the headquarters of DRI Computer Connections EditIn 1992 Kildall was invited to the University of Washington computer science program s 25th anniversary event As a distinguished graduate of the program Kildall was disappointed when asked to attend simply as an audience member He also took offense at the decision to give the keynote speech to Bill Gates a Harvard dropout who had donated to UW but had never attended 7 In response Kildall began writing a memoir entitled Computer Connections People Places and Events in the Evolution of the Personal Computer Industry 18 The memoir 29 30 5 which Kildall sought to publish expressed his frustration that people did not seem to value elegance in computer software 21 Don t think for a minute that Bill Gates made it big time because of his technical savvy Gary Kildall Computer Connections 5 62 Writing about Bill Gates Kildall described him as more of an opportunist than a technical type and severely opinionated even when the opinion he holds is absurd 5 62 In an appendix he called DOS plain and simple theft 31 because its first 26 system calls worked the same as CP M s 32 He accused IBM of contriving the price difference between PC DOS and CP M 86 in order to marginalize CP M 7 Kildall had completed a rough draft of the manuscript by the end of 1993 5 but the full text remains unpublished Journalist Harold Evans used the memoir as a primary source for a chapter about Kildall in the 2004 book They Made America concluding that Microsoft had robbed Kildall of his inventions 7 IBM veterans from the PC project disputed the book s description of events and Microsoft described it as one sided and inaccurate 18 In August 2016 Kildall s family made the first seven chapters of Computer Connections available as a free public download 30 29 5 Death EditOn July 8 1994 at the age of 52 9 Kildall sustained a head injury at the Franklin Street Bar amp Grill a biker bar in Monterey California 33 The exact circumstances of the injury are unclear Various sources have claimed he fell from a chair fell down steps or was assaulted because he had entered the establishment wearing Harley Davidson leathers 16 Harold Evans in They Made America states that Kildall stumbled and hit his head inside the premises and was found on the floor 7 Following the injury Kildall was discharged from the hospital twice He was pronounced dead at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula on July 11 1994 An autopsy conducted on July 12 did not conclusively determine the cause of death 32 4 Evans states that Kildall s head injury triggered a cerebral hemorrhage causing a blood clot to form inside the skull 7 A CP M Usenet FAQ states that Kildall was concussed due to his injury and died of a heart attack the connection between the two is unclear 34 Initial news reports and police investigation viewed Kildall s death as a possible homicide According to the coroner s report Kildall s fatal injury may have taken place as a result of foul play and the case was referred to the Monterey Police Department We re going to investigate it as a possible homicide said police Sgt Frank Sollecito I m not going to flat out say it s a homicide 35 Kildall s body was cremated His remains were buried in Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park in north Seattle 7 Recognition EditFollowing the announcement of Kildall s death Bill Gates commented that he was one of the original pioneers of the PC revolution and a very creative computer scientist who did excellent work Although we were competitors I always had tremendous respect for his contributions to the PC industry His untimely death was very unfortunate and his work will be missed 6 In March 1995 Kildall was posthumously honored by the Software Publishers Association SPA for his contributions to the microcomputer industry 36 37 10 The first programming language and first compiler specifically for microprocessors PL M 1973 The first microprocessor disk operating system which eventually sold a quarter of a million copies CP M 1974 The first successful open system architecture by segregating system specific hardware interfaces in a set of BIOS routines 38 39 40 41 1975 Creation of the first diskette track buffering schemes read ahead algorithms file directory caches and RAM drive emulators Introduction of operating systems with preemptive multitasking and windowing capabilities and menu driven user interfaces with Digital Research MP M Concurrent CP M Concurrent DOS DOS Plus GEM Introduction of a binary recompiler XLT86 1981 42 The first computer interface for video disks to allow automatic nonlinear playback presaging today s interactive multimedia 1984 with Activenture The file system and data structures for the first consumer CD ROM 1985 with KnowledgeSet In April 2014 the city of Pacific Grove installed a commemorative plaque outside Kildall s former residence which also served as the early headquarters of Digital Research 43 See also Edit Biography portalHistory of personal computers John Q TorodeReferences Edit a b Kildall Gary Arlen December 1968 Experiments in large scale computer direct access storage manipulation M Sc thesis University of Washington Thesis No 17341 a b Kildall Gary Arlen May 1972 Global expression optimization during compilation Ph D dissertation Seattle Washington USA University of Washington Computer Science Group Thesis No 20506 Technical Report No 72 06 02 O Connor Rory J PC pioneer Kildall dies in Monterey wearcam org Retrieved 2022 01 19 a b Markoff John Gregory 1994 07 13 Gary Kildall 52 Crucial Player In Computer Development Dies The New York Times p D19 Archived from the original on 2017 08 24 a b c d e f g Kildall Gary Arlen 2016 08 02 1993 Kildall Scott Kildall Kristin eds Computer Connections People Places and Events in the Evolution of the Personal Computer Industry Manuscript part 1 Kildall Family Archived from the original on 2016 11 17 Retrieved 2016 11 17 a b c d e f Special Edition Gary Kildall The Computer Chronicles 1995 Archived from the original on 2014 07 02 Retrieved 2014 06 13 a b c d e f g h i j k Evans Harold Buckland Gail Lefer David 2004 They Made America From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine Two Centuries of Innovators Little Brown and Company ISBN 978 0 316 27766 2 Andersson Ulrika 2009 01 19 Skellefteaattling kunde ha varit Bill Gates Norra Vasterbotten in Swedish Archived from the original on 2009 05 24 Retrieved 2009 05 07 a b Bishop Todd 2014 04 25 A real inventor UW s Gary Kildall father of the PC operating system honored for key work GeekWire Retrieved 2022 06 22 a b c d e f g h i j Swaine Michael 1997 04 01 Gary Kildall and Collegial Entrepreneurship Dr Dobb s Journal Archived from the original on 2007 01 24 Retrieved 2006 11 20 Kildall Gary Arlen 1973 10 01 A Unified Approach to Global Program Optimization PDF Proceedings of the 1st Annual ACM SIGACT SIGPLAN Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages POPL Boston Massachusetts USA 194 206 doi 10 1145 512927 512945 hdl 10945 42162 S2CID 10219496 Archived PDF from the original on 2017 06 29 Retrieved 2006 11 20 1 Eubanks Gordon Akass Clive ed Interview Gordon Eubanks Former Student amp CEO of Oblix Inc Recollections of Gary Kildall Interview DigitalResearch biz Archived from the original on 2006 12 09 Retrieved 2006 11 30 Isaacson Walter 2014 The Innovators How a Group of Inventors Hackers Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution Simon amp Schuster p 358 ISBN 978 1476708690 a b c Wallace James Erickson Jim 1993 Hard Drive Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire New York HarperBusiness ISBN 0 88730 629 2 a b c Freiberger Paul Swaine Michael 2000 1984 Fire in the Valley The Making of the Personal Computer 2nd ed New York N Y USA McGraw Hill ISBN 0 07 135892 7 a b Young Jeffrey 1997 07 07 Gary Kildall The DOS That Wasn t Forbes Archived from the original on 2011 06 23 Retrieved 2011 08 29 a b Manes Stephen Andrews Paul 1992 Gates How Microsoft s Mogul Reinvented an Industry and Made Himself the Richest Man in America Doubleday ISBN 0 671 88074 8 a b c d e Hamm Steve Greene Jay 2004 10 25 The Man Who Could Have Been Bill Gates A new book says Gates got the rewards due Gary Kildall What s the real story BusinessWeek Bloomberg Businessweek Archived from the original on 2012 06 29 Retrieved 2006 11 13 Eubanks Gordon 2000 11 08 Morrow Daniel S ed Gordon Eubanks Oral History PDF Computerworld Honors Program International Archives Interview Cupertino CA USA Archived from the original PDF on 2009 03 26 Retrieved 2006 11 20 Rolander Tom 2007 08 08 Scoble Robert ed Scoble Show PodTech net Interview Archived from the original on 2016 11 11 Retrieved 2016 11 11 a b Rolander Tom 1994 07 15 In Memory of GARY A KILDALL May 19 1942 July 11 1994 Tom Rolander s Website and Album Memorial service Naval Postgraduate School Monterey Calif USA Archived from the original on 2007 09 27 Retrieved 2006 11 30 Burton Kathleen 1985 07 29 Cash short Digital Research cuts staff seeks investors Computerworld The Newsweekly for the Computer Community Computer Industry Vol XIX no 30 Monterey California USA CW Communications Inc p 72 ISSN 0010 4841 Archived from the original on 2020 02 17 Retrieved 2020 02 17 a b Allan Roy A 2001 A History of the Personal Computer The People and the Technology ebook 1 ed Allan Publishing ISBN 0 9689108 3 1 Retrieved 2016 11 18 Stark Craig L 1986 04 29 CD ROM Conference Lured by 600 Megabytes on Disk PC Magazine 42 Retrieved 2016 11 19 Tom Rolander Serial entrepreneur and Emergent Farming co founder Retrieved 2016 11 11 Huitt Robert Eubanks Gordon Rolander Thomas Tom Alan Laws David Michel Howard E Halla Brian Wharton John Harrison Berg Brian Su Weilian Kildall Scott Kampe Bill 2014 04 25 Laws David ed Legacy of Gary Kildall The CP M IEEE Milestone Dedication PDF video transscription Pacific Grove California USA Computer History Museum CHM Reference number X7170 2014 Archived PDF from the original on 2014 12 27 Retrieved 2020 01 19 33 pages 2 3 Cringely Robert X 1992 Accidental Empires How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions Battle Foreign Competition and Still Can t Get a Date ISBN 978 0887308550 Rivlin Gary 1999 The Plot to Get Bill Gates Crown Business ISBN 978 0 8129 3006 1 a b Shustek Len 2016 08 02 In His Own Words Gary Kildall Remarkable People Computer History Museum Archived from the original on 2016 12 17 Retrieved 2016 11 17 a b Perry Tekla S 2016 08 03 CP M Creator Gary Kildall s Memoirs Released as Free Download IEEE Spectrum Archived from the original on 2016 11 17 Retrieved 2016 11 17 A Career Spent in Gates Shadow Computer Pioneer Dies at 52 www tech insider org Retrieved 2022 01 19 a b Andrews Paul 1994 07 14 A Career Spent in Gates Shadow Computer Pioneer Dies at 52 The Seattle Times Archived from the original on 2017 10 13 Retrieved 2017 04 29 Akass Clive 2006 08 11 The man who gave Bill Gates the world Gary Kildall was one of the founding fathers of the PC but he is remembered now for his greatest mistake Personal Computer World Archived from the original on 2008 10 11 Kirkpatrick Don 1999 01 12 comp os cpm Frequently Asked Questions FAQ Archived from the original on 2007 09 29 Retrieved 2006 11 20 Whitely Peyton 7 16 1994 Computer Pioneer s Death Probed Kildall Called Possible Victim Of Homicide Seattle Times https archive seattletimes com archive date 19940716 amp slug 1920582 Wharton John Harrison 1994 08 01 Gary Kildall industry pioneer dead at 52 created first microcomputer languages disk operating systems Microprocessor Report MicroDesign Resources Inc MDR 8 10 Archived from the original on 2016 11 18 Retrieved 2016 11 18 SPA Award to Dr Gary A Kildall 1995 SPA Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Software Publishers Association SPA 1995 03 13 Archived from the original on 2019 12 21 Retrieved 2019 12 21 via www digitalresearch biz Kildall Gary Arlen June 1975 CP M 1 1 or 1 2 BIOS and BDOS for Lawrence Livermore Laboratories Kildall Gary Arlen January 1980 The History of CP M The Evolution of an Industry One Person s Viewpoint Dr Dobb s Journal of Computer Calisthenics amp Orthodontia 5 1 6 7 41 Archived from the original on 2016 11 24 Retrieved 2013 06 03 Killian A Joseph Joe 2001 Gary Kildall s CP M Some early CP M history 1976 1977 Thomas Todd Fischer IMSAI Archived from the original on 2012 12 29 Retrieved 2013 06 03 Fraley Bob Spicer Dag 2007 01 26 Oral History of Joseph Killian Interviewed by Bob Fraley Edited by Dag Spicer Recorded January 26 2007 Mountain View California CHM Reference number X3879 2007 PDF Computer History Museum Archived from the original PDF on 2014 07 14 Retrieved 2013 06 03 Digital Research 1981 XLT86 8080 to 8086 Assembly Language Translator User s Guide PDF Pacific Grove California USA Digital Research Inc Archived PDF from the original on 2016 11 18 Retrieved 2016 11 18 Sammon John 2014 04 27 Computer pioneer honored in Pacific Grove The Monterey County Herald Archived from the original on 2014 05 08 Further reading EditGoldman Rohm Wendy 1998 09 01 The Microsoft File The Secret Case Against Bill Gates 1 ed IDG ISBN 88 11 73868 7 4 Laws David 2014 02 26 Gary Kildall and the 40th Anniversary of the Birth of the PC Operating System Remarkable People Computer History Museum Archived from the original on 2016 11 19 Retrieved 2016 11 19 IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing CP M Microcomputer Operating System 1974 PDF Computer History Museum 2014 04 25 Archived PDF from the original on 2019 04 03 Retrieved 2019 04 03 Libes Sol 1995 The Gary Kildall Legacy Amateur Computer Group of New Jersey Archived from the original on 2016 11 19 Kildall Gary Arlen 2016 08 02 1993 Kildall Scott Kildall Kristin eds Computer Connections People Places and Events in the Evolution of the Personal Computer Industry Manuscript part 1 Kildall Family Archived PDF from the original on 2016 11 17 Retrieved 2016 11 17 Part 2 not released due to family privacy reasons Ness Stephen A 2017 10 21 2016 2014 CP M Source Archived from the original on 2020 02 25 Retrieved 2020 02 25 Gary Kildall Conference Room Dedication Ceremony PDF Naval Postgraduate School NPS 2017 04 21 Archived from the original PDF on 2020 01 02 Retrieved 2020 02 25 18 pages External links Edit Wikiquote has quotations related to Gary Kildall Dr Gary A Kildall MaxFrame Corporation Maxframe website at the Wayback Machine archived 2004 10 10 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Gary Kildall amp oldid 1149448479 PLS, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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