CP/M creator Gary Kildall's memoirs released as free download

原始链接: https://spectrum.ieee.org/cpm-creator-gary-kildalls-memoirs-released-as-free-download

A recently released memoir draft by Gary Kildall, the creator of the CP/M operating system, offers a glimpse into the early days of the personal computer industry. Titled “Computer Connections,” the manuscript was completed in 1993, a year before his death, and has now been published by the Computer History Museum with his children’s permission. The released portion focuses on Kildall’s early career and the founding of his company, highlighting his innovative spirit and prioritizing invention over pure profit. His children, Scott and Kristin Kildall, emphasize their father’s definition of success – valuing ideas and a passion for life. Notably, later chapters detailing Kildall’s personal struggles with alcoholism will remain unpublished, as they don’t represent his core values and achievements as portrayed in this initial excerpt. The memoir provides valuable insight from a key figure in computing history.

原文

The year before his death in 1994, Gary Kildall—inventor of the early microcomputer operating system CP/M—wrote a draft of a memoir, “Computer Connections: People, Places, and Events in the Evolution of the Personal Computer Industry.” He distributed copies to family and friends, but died before realizing his plans to release it as a book.

This week, the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, with the permission of Kildall’s children, released the first portion of that memoir. You can download it here.

Wrote Scott and Kristin Kildall in an introductory letter: “In this excerpt, you will read how Gary and Dorothy started from modest means as a young married couple, paved a new path for start-up culture, and embraced their idea of success to become leaders in the industry. Our father embodied a definition of success that we can all learn from: one that puts inventions, ideas, and a love of life before profits as the paramount goal.”

Later chapters, they indicated, did “not reflect his true self,” but rather his struggles with alcoholism, and will remain unpublished.