Petition to Microsoft - Printable Version +- Qbasicnews.com (http://qbasicnews.com/newforum) +-- Forum: General (http://qbasicnews.com/newforum/forum-6.html) +--- Forum: General/Misc (http://qbasicnews.com/newforum/forum-18.html) +--- Thread: Petition to Microsoft (/thread-3345.html) |
Petition to Microsoft - aetherfox - 02-29-2004 I haven't got a response, and I haven't seen one yet. So here is a petition to Microsoft asking for stuff about QB4.5, QB7.1 and VBDOS. I haven't set it up, just here is the actual text. Comment, critique, and tell me what you think needs changing. Quote:This petition to Microsoft is hereby established for the specific purpose of requesting Microsoft to release its older Basic line of products (QBasic 4.5, QuickBasic 7.1 and Visual Basic for DOS) as a freeware/abandon ware product, or to donate its source code to the public domain. Some of my legalities might be a little skewed. And please. Support this. Petition to Microsoft - Z!re - 02-29-2004 You should add that if they where to charge for their software the large number of people who use it would just switch to another free Language/Compiler set. Otherwise they might get some crazy ideas... it IS MS you know. Petition to Microsoft - whitetiger0990 - 02-29-2004 ya, when i emailed them about a windows qbasic compiler i said that it should be free or else people would just continue using the older DOS version and not use the windows one. Petition to Microsoft - na_th_an - 02-29-2004 Great idea. Put this online and I'll be the first to sign. To me it is stupid that microsoft keeps forbiding the free distribution of a product that is 17 years old. Petition to Microsoft - TheBigBasicQ - 02-29-2004 I too support it. I am ready to sign it whenever you put it online =). I feel you should add a line saying that "since this software has no commericial value any more...." Petition to Microsoft - Zack - 03-01-2004 I'll sign it, o' course. I'll make the MySQL db too, if you want. Petition to Microsoft - Silent-Death - 03-01-2004 I'll sign the thing, just give me a pen. Petition to Microsoft - Agamemnus - 03-01-2004 fulfil Petition to Microsoft - Sterling Christensen - 03-01-2004 Yeah, but what's in it for Microsoft? The most realistic plan would be to try to buy the rights to QuickBASIC from MS, but I don't think all of us could scrape together enough money. Anyway, I guess I would take out any suggestion of donating source to the public domain. The request will probably seem a lot more reasonable without it, even if that part is just a suggestion, because it will provoke an automatic No from them. I pretty sure it's futile, but you'll have my vote anyhow. Petition to Microsoft - na_th_an - 03-01-2004 How much would it be? Anybody knows? Do you notice the danger of someone wanting to buy it? Now microsoft doesn't give a damn about the compiler. It is illegal to download it, but nobody cares, so it is fine. That's what we call abandonware: nobody_cares-ware. But if someone who cared bought the copyright, sites like this would disappear. I doubt that it is gonna happen, but hey, there is like 1000 people here, and many, many more in other QB sites... Moderately big market, isn't it? |