Flavors, Symbolics, and MIT

[Richard Pavelle <RP%SCRC-TENEX@MIT-MC.ARPA>]

    Date: Wed, 15 Feb 84 09:50:58 pst
    Message-Id: <8402151751.AA13818@ucbjade.CC.Berkeley.ARPA>
    From: bobgian%PSUVAX1.BITNET@Berkeley
    To: ucsfcgl!bash@Berkeley, franz-friends@Berkeley
    Subject: Flavors, Symbolics, and MIT

    Not wishing to subject myself to a lawsuit, but here I go anyway ...

    Symbolics can scream all it wants about lawyers and proprietary rights,
    but anything developed for the Lisp Machine by MIT labor is property
    of MIT, which chooses to distribute it as public domain (more-or-less)
    software cheaply to all askers.

    An example is MACSYMA, developed by MIT and then "pirated" for commercial
    sale by Symbolics.  Maybe Symbolics has enhanced MACSYMA, but they sure
    as h*ll don't OWN MACSYMA.

This statement not true. Arthur D. Little Inc (licensing agent for
MACSYMA) and MIT approached Symbolics with the proposal of marketing and
enhancing MACSYMA and Symbolics accepted. Symbolics does not claim ownership
of MACSYMA and never has. 
 
    I don't know the detailed contractual arrangements between Rich Zippel,
    MIT, Symbolics, and Flavors, but before giving up I would call MIT's
    lawyers, not Symbolics' lawyers.

    RMS (Rich Stallman), where are you when we need you??   :-)

      - Bob (who was at MIT during the birth of both the LispMs and Symbolics)

    ---
    Bob Giansiracusa (Dept of Computer Science, Penn State Univ, 814-865-9507)
    Arpa:   bobgian%PSUVAX1.BITNET@Berkeley
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    USnail: 333 Whitmore Lab, Penn State Univ, University Park, PA 16802
    --------------------