Gary Kildall | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1942-05-19)May 19, 1942 Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Died | July 11, 1994(1994-07-11) (aged 52) Monterey, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park |
| Alma mater | University of Washington[1][2] |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1972–1994 |
| Known for |
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| Title | Founder, chairman and CEO ofDigital Research |
| Board member of | Digital Research |
| Spouse(s) | Dorothy McEwen Kildall Karen Kildall[3] |
| Children | 2, includingScott[4] |
Gary Arlen Kildall (/ˈkɪldɔːl/; May 19, 1942 – July 11, 1994) was an Americancomputer scientist andmicrocomputer entrepreneur. During the 1970s, Kildall created theoperating systemCP/M among other operating systems andprogramming tools,[5] and subsequently foundedDigital Research, Inc. to market and sell his software products. He is considered apioneer of thepersonal computer revolution.[6][7]
In 1974 inPacific Grove, California, Kildall demonstrated the first working prototype of CP/M, which would later become the dominant operating system formicrocomputers for a time.[8] Together with his invention of theBIOS (Basic Input Output System), his operating system allowed a microprocessor-based computer to communicate with disk storage.[9] Kildall was among the earliest individuals to recognizemicroprocessors as fully capable computers.[6] During the 1980s, Kildall also appeared onPBS as co-host ofComputer Chronicles, a weekly informational program that discussed the latest developments in personal computing.
Gary Kildall was born and grew up inSeattle,Washington, where his family operated aseamanship school. His father, Joseph Kildall, was a captain of Norwegian heritage. His mother Emma was of halfSwedish ancestry, as Kildall's grandmother was born in Långbäck, Sweden, inSkellefteå Municipality, but emigrated to Canada at 23 years of age.[10]
Kildall earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1967 and a master's degree in Computer Science in 1968, both from theUniversity of Washington. At one time, he had hoped to become a mathematics teacher. During his studies, Kildall became increasingly interested in computer technology and enrolled to attain a Ph.D. in Computer Science.[1][11]
Kildall fulfilled hisdraft obligation by teaching at theNaval Postgraduate School inMonterey, California.[12]
Kildall briefly returned to UW and finished his doctorate in computer science in 1972.[2]
Intel lent him systems using the8008 and8080 processors, and in 1973, he developed the firsthigh-level programming language for microprocessors, namedPL/M.[12] For Intel he also wrote 8008 and 8080instruction set simulators namedINTERP/8[13][14][15] andINTERP/80.[16] He created the operating systemCP/M the same year to enable the 8080 to control a floppy disk drive, combining for the first time all the essential components of a computer at the microcomputer scale. He demonstrated CP/M to Intel, but Intel had little interest and chose to market PL/M instead.[12]
In 1973 Kildall andKathryn Strutynski developed the languagePL/M[17] to produceCP/M, one of the first operating systems forpersonal computers.They used as reference their experience with theIBMmainframe computers and theoperating systemVM.
Kildall and his wife Dorothy established a company, originally named "Intergalactic Digital Research" (later renamed asDigital Research, Inc.), to market the operating system CP/M by advertisements in hobbyist magazines. Digital Research licensed CP/M for theIMSAI 8080, a popular clone of theAltair 8800. As more manufacturers licensed CP/M, it became ade facto standard and had to support an increasing number of hardware variations. In response, Kildall pioneered the concept of aBIOS, a set of simple programs stored in computer hardware (ROM or EPROM microprocessor) that enabled CP/M to operate on different systems without modification.[12]
CP/M's quick success surprised Kildall, and he was slow to update it forhigh density floppy disks andhard disk drives. After hardware manufacturers discussed creating a rival operating system, Kildall started a rush project to developCP/M 2.[18] By 1981, at the peak of its popularity, CP/M operated on3000 different computer models and DRI hadUS$5.4 million in yearly revenues.[12]
Between 1983 and 1984,Digital Research offered several of their business and educational applications for the IBM PC onbootable floppy diskettes bundled with SpeedStart CP/M, a reduced version ofCP/M-86 as a bootableruntime environment.[19]
IBM approached Digital Research in 1980, atBill Gates' suggestion,[20] to negotiate the purchase of a forthcoming version of CP/M namedCP/M-86 for theIBM PC. Gary had left initial negotiations to his wife, Dorothy, as he usually did, while he andTom Rolander, a colleague and developer of the operating systemMP/M, used Gary's private aeroplane to deliver software to manufacturerBill Godbout.[6][21] Before the IBM representatives would explain the purpose of their visit, they insisted that Dorothy sign anon-disclosure agreement. On the advice of DRI attorney Gerry Davis, Dorothy refused to sign the agreement without Gary's approval. Gary returned in the afternoon and tried to resume the discussion with IBM; accounts disagree on whether he signed the non-disclosure agreement, as well as whether he ever met with the IBM representatives.[22]
Various reasons have been given for the two companies failing to reach an agreement. DRI, which had only a few products, might have been unwilling to sell its main product to IBM for a one-time payment rather than its usualroyalty-based plan.[23] Dorothy might have believed that the company could not deliver CP/M-86 on IBM's proposed schedule, as the company was busy developing an implementation of thePL/I programming language forData General.[7] Also possible, the IBM representatives might have been annoyed that DRI had spent hours on what they considered a routine formality.[21] According to Kildall, the IBM representatives took the same flight toFlorida that night that he and Dorothy took for their vacation, and they negotiated further on the flight, reaching a handshake agreement. IBM main negotiator Jack Sams insisted that he never met Gary, and one IBM colleague has confirmed that Sams said so at the time. He accepted that someone else in his group might have been on the same flight, and noted that he flew back to Seattle to talk withMicrosoft again.[21]
Sams related the story to Gates, who had already agreed to provide aBASIC interpreter and several other programs for the PC. Gates' impression of the story was that Gary capriciously "went flying", as he would later tell reporters.[24] Sams left Gates with the task of finding a usable operating system, and a few weeks later he proposed using the operating system86-DOS— an independently developed operating system that implemented Kildall's CP/Mapplication programming interface— fromSeattle Computer Products (SCP).Paul Allen negotiated a licensing deal with SCP. Allen had 86-DOS adapted for IBM's hardware, and IBM shipped it asIBM PC DOS.[22]
Kildall obtained a copy of PC DOS, examined it, and concluded that it infringed on CP/M. When he asked Gerry Davis what legal options were available, Davis told him that intellectual property law for software was not clear enough to sue.[25] Instead Kildall only threatened IBM with legal action, and IBM responded with a proposal to offer CP/M-86 as an option for the PC in return for a release of liability.[26] Kildall accepted, believing that IBM's new system (like its previous personal computers) would not be a significant commercial success.[27] When the IBM PC was introduced, IBM sold its operating system as an unbundled option. One of the operating system options was PC DOS, priced at US$40. PC DOS was seen as a practically necessary option; most software required it and without it the IBM PC was limited to its built-inCassette BASIC. CP/M-86 shipped a few months later six times more expensive at US$240, and sold poorly against DOS and enjoyed far less software support.[6]
With the loss of the IBM deal, Gary and Dorothy were pressured to bring in more experienced management, and Gary's influence over the company waned. He worked in various experimental and research projects, such as a version of CP/M withmultitasking (MP/M), created byDigital Research developerTom Rolander in 1979. Kildall also worked on an implementation of theLogo programming language.[12] He hoped that Logo, an educational dialect ofLISP, would supplant BASIC in education, but it did not.[28]
In 1985 Digital Research developedFlexOS, a modular real-time multiuser multitasking operating system (RTOS).[29][30]
After seeing a demonstration of theApple Lisa, Kildall oversaw the creation of DRI's owngraphical user interface, named Graphics Environment Manager (GEM), which was introduced on February 28, 1985.[31]Novell acquired DRI in 1991 in a deal that netted millions for Kildall.[25]
Kildall resigned as CEO of Digital Research on 28 June 1985, but remained chairman of the board.[32]
Kildall co-hosted apublic television program produced byPBS namedComputer Chronicles. It discussed trends in personal computing. Gary co-hosted the program for seven years during the first eight seasons from 1983 to 1990. After this time the program continued through its 19th season, with the last episode broadcast on June 25, 2002.
In 1984 Gary started another company,Activenture, which adaptedoptical disc technology for computer use,[33] using as reference theRed Book developed by Sony and Phillips in 1980. In 1985 theCD-ROM was presented byPhilips andSony, the same year Activenture was renamedKnowledgeSet.
In June 1985 Digital Research releasedThe Electronic Encyclopedia,[34] aCD-ROM version ofGrolier'sAcademic American Encyclopedia.[22][33][7] The first computerencyclopedia, it included pictures in 1990 and added audio and videos in 1992. The encyclopedia was acquired byBanta Corporation; its last CD-ROM version was published in 2003.[35]
Kildall's final business venture, known asPrometheus Light and Sound (PLS) and based inAustin, Texas, developed a modularPBX communication system[12] that integratedland-line telephones withmobile phones (called "Intelliphone") to reduce the then-high online costs and to remotely connect with home appliances.[36]
Prometheus Light and Sound system included aUUCP-based store and forward system to exchange emails and files between the various nodes and was planned to includeTCP/IP support at a later time.
According to Brian Halla, Intel's technical liaison to Digital Research in the 1970s, Gary Kildall showed him a VAX 11/780 running in his house generating a Coke bottle spinning. According to Halla, Kildall sold it a few months later toPixar.[37]
In 1992, Kildall was invited to the University of Washington computer science program's 25th anniversary event. As a distinguished graduate of the program, Kildall was disappointed when asked to attend simply as an audience member. He also took offense at the decision to have the main speech done by Bill Gates, aHarvard University dropout who had donated to UW, but had never attended.[7]
In response, Kildall began writing a memoir, entitledComputer Connections: People, Places, and Events in the Evolution of the Personal Computer Industry.[25] The memoir,[17][38][5] which Kildall sought to publish, expressed his frustration that people did not seem to value elegance in computer software.[28]
Don't think for a minute that [Bill] Gates made it 'big time' because of his technical savvy.
Writing about Bill Gates, Kildall described him as "more of an opportunist than a technical type, and severely opinionated, even when the opinion he holds is absurd".[5]: 62
In an appendix, he termed DOS "plain and simple theft"[39] because its first 26system calls worked the same as CP/M's.[40] He accused IBM of contriving the price difference between PC DOS and CP/M-86 in order to marginalize CP/M.[7]
Kildall had completed a rough draft of the manuscript by the end of 1993,[5] but the full text remains unpublished. JournalistHarold Evans used the memoir as a primary source for a chapter about Kildall in the 2004 bookThey Made America, concluding that Microsoft had robbed Kildall of his inventions.[7] IBM veterans from the PC project disputed the book's description of events, and Microsoft described it as "one-sided and inaccurate".[25]
In August 2016, Kildall's family made the first seven chapters ofComputer Connections available as a free public download.[38][17][5]
Kildall self-described as a "greaser" during high school,[5]: 12 and his colleagues recall him as creative, easygoing, and adventurous. In addition to flying, he lovedsports cars,auto racing, andboating, and had a lifelong love of the sea.[6][12]
I think I’ll make acassette tape of the ‘IBM Flying Story.’ I’ll carry a few copies in my jacket to give out on occasion. There’s only one problem. I [will] tell this story [to someone], and after I’m done, the same person [will say], ‘Yeah, but did you go flying and blow IBM off?’
Although Kildall preferred to leave the IBM affair in the past and to be known for his work before and afterward, there were continual comparisons between himself and Bill Gates, as well as fading memories of his contributions. A legend grew around the fateful IBM-DRI meeting, encouraged by Gates and various journalists,[24][41] suggesting that Kildall had irresponsibly taken the day off for a recreational flight.[7]
In later years, Kildall privately expressed bitter feelings about being overshadowed by Microsoft,[12] and began suffering fromalcoholism.[25][42]
Selling DRI to Novell had made Kildall a wealthy man, and he relocated to theWest Lake Hills suburb of Austin. His Austin house was a lakeside property, with stalls for several sports cars, and a video studio in the basement. Kildall owned and flew his ownLearjet and had at least one boat on the lake. While in Austin he also participated in volunteer efforts to assist children withHIV/AIDS. He also owned a mansion with a panoramic ocean view inPebble Beach, California, near the headquarters of DRI.[12][7]
On July 8, 1994, at the age of 52,[11] Kildall sustained a head injury at the Franklin Street Bar & Grill, abiker bar in Monterey, California.[43] The exact circumstances of the injury are unclear. Various sources have claimed he fell from a chair, fell down steps, or wasassaulted because he had entered the establishment wearingHarley-Davidson leathers.[23] Harold Evans, inThey Made America, states that Kildall "stumbled and hit his head" inside the premises, and "was found on the floor".[7]
After the injury, Kildall was discharged from a hospital twice. He was pronounced dead at theCommunity Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, on July 11, 1994. An autopsy, performed on July 12, did not conclusively determine the cause of death.[40][4] Evans states that Kildall's head injury triggered acerebral hemorrhage, causing ablood clot to form inside the skull.[7] A CP/MUsenetFAQ states that Kildall wasconcussed due to his injury, and died ofheart failure; the relation between the two is unclear.[44] Medical evidence of chronic alcoholism was found during the autopsy.[45]
Initial news reports and police investigation considered Kildall's death as a possible homicide. According to the coroner's report, Kildall's fatal injury may have occurred "as a result of foul play," and the case was referred to the Monterey Police Department. "We're going to investigate it as a possible homicide," said police Sgt. Frank Sollecito. "I'm not going to flat-out say it's a homicide".[45]
Kildall's body wascremated. His remains were buried inEvergreen Washelli Memorial Park, in north Seattle.[7]
After the announcement of Kildall's death, Bill Gates commented that he was "one of the original pioneers of the PC revolution" and "a very creative computer scientist who did excellent work. Although we were competitors, I always had tremendous respect for his contributions to the PC industry. His untimely death was very unfortunate and his work will be missed."[6]
Stewart Cheifet, his co-host onComputer Chronicles, said that Kildall was his "favorite guy" and praised his skills and contributions to the development of personal computing. Cheifet also commented: "Gary's problem was that he was too much of a gentleman. He wasn't a killer business kind of guy", adding that he was "a decent man in a business that was hard to succeed in if you were decent."[46]
In March 1995, Kildall was honored posthumously by theSoftware Publishers Association (SPA) for his contributions to the microcomputer industry:[47][48][12]
In April 2014, the city ofPacific Grove installed a commemorative plaque outside Kildall's former residence, which also served as the early headquarters of Digital Research.[54]
Steve Hauk wrote a playA Mild Concussion.[55] Later, withStewart Cheifet, a second version of the play was written under the titleThe Forgotten Computer Genius. The play looks at the final days of a computer genius.[56]
Gift of Steve Hauk
Video
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