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digitalmars.D - Remembering Paul Fillinich and Licensing C++ from AT&T

reply Walter Bright <newshound2 digitalmars.com> writes:
[An early lesson in the advantages of Open Source}

I was sad to hear that Paul Fillinich, an intellectual property lawyer for
AT&T, 
passed away in 2020. I doubt many people are aware of his contribution to the 
success of C++.

Back in 1987 or so, C++ and Objective-C were neck-and-neck in the race to
create 
a better C. I was interested in gaining a competitive edge for my C compiler 
(Zortech), and wondered which horse to get on. Stepstone owned Objective-C, and 
had some onerous licensing terms for it. But C++? I made some phone calls, and 
finally discovered that Paul Fillinich was in charge of IP at AT&T. I contacted 
him and asked:

1. can I get a license to create a C++ compiler?

2. can I call it C++?

Paul laughed. He said nobody had ever asked him a question like this in
advance, 
they usually just went ahead and did things hoping nobody would notice. (Of 
course, being AT&T's IP lawyer, he did notice.)

Paul said sure, go ahead. You don't need a license from AT&T, and AT&T didn't 
trademark C++.

I owe him a large debt of gratitude, and so does the C++ community. Paul was
one 
of the good guys.

This enabled a thriving ecosystem for C++, and we all know what happened to 
Objective-C.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36374340
Jun 17 2023
next sibling parent reply user456 <user456 123.de> writes:
On Saturday, 17 June 2023 at 20:43:39 UTC, Walter Bright wrote:

 [An early lesson in the advantages of Open Source}
 [...]
 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36374340


I like so much those kinds of little stories from the 1980's or 
90's.
Jun 17 2023
parent Cecil Ward <cecil cecilward.com> writes:
On Saturday, 17 June 2023 at 20:54:51 UTC, user456 wrote:

 On Saturday, 17 June 2023 at 20:43:39 UTC, Walter Bright wrote:

 [An early lesson in the advantages of Open Source}
 [...]
 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36374340


 I like so much those kinds of little stories from the 1980's or 
 90's.


Indeed. He sounds like one of the right-minded folk, not one to 
place unnecessary obstacles in the way of others.
Jun 17 2023
prev sibling next sibling parent Dom DiSc <dominikus scherkl.de> writes:
On Saturday, 17 June 2023 at 20:43:39 UTC, Walter Bright wrote:

 [An early lesson in the advantages of Open Source}


Does not parse.
Missing closing "[" brace.
Too many closing "}" braces.

:-D
Jun 18 2023
prev sibling parent Jan Knepper <jan digitalmars.com> writes:
On 6/17/23 16:43, Walter Bright wrote:

 [An early lesson in the advantages of Open Source}
 
 I was sad to hear that Paul Fillinich, an intellectual property lawyer 
 for AT&T, passed away in 2020. I doubt many people are aware of his 
 contribution to the success of C++.
 
 Back in 1987 or so, C++ and Objective-C were neck-and-neck in the race 
 to create a better C. I was interested in gaining a competitive edge for 
 my C compiler (Zortech), and wondered which horse to get on. Stepstone 
 owned Objective-C, and had some onerous licensing terms for it. But C++? 
 I made some phone calls, and finally discovered that Paul Fillinich was 
 in charge of IP at AT&T. I contacted him and asked:
 
 1. can I get a license to create a C++ compiler?
 
 2. can I call it C++?
 
 Paul laughed. He said nobody had ever asked him a question like this in 
 advance, they usually just went ahead and did things hoping nobody would 
 notice. (Of course, being AT&T's IP lawyer, he did notice.)
 
 Paul said sure, go ahead. You don't need a license from AT&T, and AT&T 
 didn't trademark C++.
 
 I owe him a large debt of gratitude, and so does the C++ community. Paul 
 was one of the good guys.
 
 This enabled a thriving ecosystem for C++, and we all know what happened 
 to Objective-C.
 
 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36374340


Nice story! You really should write a book someday...!!! :-)
(Will be a different experience)
Jun 18 2023