Errmmmm --- source code *was* provided to all users of Bell Labs
Research Unix at least through v6 or so. (They did not have
permission to redistribute, of course, but neither do users of Minix;
the Minix license requires royalties for redistribution of source).
> ... I dare say the
> first C compiler came source-less.
It came with source, as part of the above-mentioned Unix releases.
Granted, that source was a mass of obscure and nearly uncommented
PDP-11 assembler, but it is what the author of the compiler used to
produce the binaries...
> Sun has released Jini with sources, and are rolling out a
> comprehensive "Sun Community License" under which they will be
> releasing Java itself, - the whole kit & kaboodle - with some
> form of "free" source license.
Do you know if Sun has released the actual text of the license itself
(or a draft)? I've seen quite a bit about Sun's *intentions* (open
access to source, but no distribution of modified versions unless you
pass a compatibility test --- which they haven't made generally
available in the past --- and pay royalties), but I haven't yet seen
draft text of the license. I may be missing something...
rst