Microsoft v. TinyBASIC

Рет қаралды 11,166

Күн бұрын

In 1976, the CEO of an ambitious new software company called Microsoft published a scathing letter directed at the computer hobbyist community at large, and really, it's all been downhill from there. This is the story of the race to Build a Better BASIC in the primordial dawn of the information age.
merch soon...... shop.cptkrb.net/
SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE COOL STUFF
🔵➢Follow me on Twitter: / krb_official
🟣➢Join the Discord: / discord
⚪️➢Follow me on Twitch: / captainkrb
🔴➢Second Channel: / @captainkrbii
🟠➢Patreon: / captainkrb
== Tracklisting (in order) ==
1. Captain KRB - Rhode Runner
2. Captain KRB - 1976 Suite
3. Captain KRB - Lounge Cats
4. Captain KRB - Misirlou
5. Captain KRB - Kontrollervizion
6. Captain KRB - Hello Kid
7. Captain KRB - We Will Now Read From
8. Captain KRB - Dragnet
0:00 Intro
1:43 Prelude - An Open Letter
3:07 Prelude - Sown Seeds
3:44 Prelude - 8800
4:35 Prelude - Back To BASICs
5:28 A Brief History of Computer Languages (1953)
8:02 Language For The Masses
9:03 The Birth of an Empire
11:18 The Birth of a BASIC
15:04 Lighting a Fire
20:29 Trinity Shatters
21:45 closing remarks and merch...

Пікірлер: 110

@CaptainKRB 7 күн бұрын

- 20:28 should be 1985 whoops :3 - merch very soon at www.shop.cptkrb.net - full list of sources coming soon

@creativedesignation7880 7 күн бұрын

I really like your videos, but the amount of flashing graphics makes it impossible for me to look at without immediately getting neurological issues. (The visuals of the illuminated rain have the same effect btw). I still listen to them, but I really prefer the ones you made that have less flashing, so I don't miss out on the information on screen. Maybe this is something you could keep in mind for future edits? I really mean this in the nicest possible way, I just know that most people don't really think about the issues flashing images can cause.

@CaptainKRB 7 күн бұрын

this is an incredibly valid concern and ill try my hardest to tone it down in the future :)

@SetariM 7 күн бұрын

@@CaptainKRB If you wanna keep the flashing, the first thought that occurs to me is maybe putting a dulling filter over the portions with flashing, that way it's not so "bright". Would make it so you don't have to remove the portion entirely from your videos.

@Mickey_Valentine 6 күн бұрын

ASSANGE IS FREE !! JULIAN WAS RELEASED TODAY !!!! GREAT NEWS

@Mickey_Valentine 6 күн бұрын

@@CaptainKRBpleaaaaaase do an assange special ... I am a long time friend of wikileaks ... Can help with whichever info bundle u migh need // massive salute KRB

@Darxide23 7 күн бұрын

Narration voice and just chatting voice may as well be two different people.

@Nono-hk3is 7 күн бұрын

11:09 And here we see once again (or I guess for the first time) that software piracy is not theft but is about lack of accessibility

@Nono-hk3is 7 күн бұрын

2:15 Note how there was a growing personal computing community FROM DAY ONE once the hardware became accessible. The debate over copyright and theft of code is valid, but note also the tone of entitlement held by Bill Gates, that he had an inalienable right to profit, and he didn't have any awareness of ir appreciation for the people he wanted to profit from.

@Cmanorange 7 күн бұрын

(display "LISP MENTIONED!!!!") (newline)

@----GOD----- 7 күн бұрын

Can we comment on how cool, inspired, special and creative his editing style is? ( im not sure if it is categorized as an ard style but videos art still art so im kind of split )

@monodragon 7 күн бұрын

they use they/she but absolutely.

@drewwilson8756 7 күн бұрын

Where's my money big G? Supposed to pay me back last Tuesday.

@----GOD----- 6 күн бұрын

Ηυh?

@lmost 4 күн бұрын

I don't see why not.

@jorymo4964 Күн бұрын

Bot-ass comment

@cosmosheesh 7 күн бұрын

my adhd is absolutely in-love with ur editing style! thank you for your work💙

@robobox7595 7 күн бұрын

I’ve always felt like Microsoft’s 90s anti-open source stance was Bill Gates never letting go of that grudge.

@rnts08 4 күн бұрын

Kind of funny how Microsoft is one of the biggest Foss contributors these days. Couldn't build an aws competitor with windows 😂

@metalgearsolid2substance507 7 күн бұрын

This video is great. I’m studying electronic engineering at the moment. It’s kind of insane to me that content like this doesn’t have millions of views.

@roberthoople 7 күн бұрын

My first computer was a TRS-80 II that I got in 1994, and while my elementary-school classmates and friends were all playing 16-color games on their home PCs, which actually belonged to that era, all I could do with mine was spend every night after school, for weeks, pouring through the old set of brown binders that came with the TRS-80, until I learned enough to write some very-basic BASIC, and wrote some math homework helper programs (and sometimes wished I could drag my TRS-80, with my multiplication/division helper program, into class with me, because I sucked so bad at math [or I was too easily distracted from math to be good at it...]). Anyways, this video was a fun trip down memory lane for me, so thanks for that!

@vylbird8014 4 күн бұрын

TRS-80. "The computer we have at home."

@warpdrivefueledbyinsomnia8165 6 күн бұрын

I like how this video is a nested function. tell history_altairBasicLetter_1976 (tell history_tinyBasic_1975 (tell history_basic_1963 (tell history_highLevelLang_1953 (get history_highLevelLang_1953) get history_basic_1963) get history_tinyBasic_1975) get history_altairBasicLetter_1976) The above text is not meant to be interpreted as any actual programming language. I work in the terminal, not an IDE. Don't be pedantic.

@longobac 7 күн бұрын

Your visuals are captivating, as always. Thanks!

@brucegoatly 6 күн бұрын

I don't know how this video came to be recommended to me, but I'm glad it was - it was both informative and entertaining! Over here in the UK my first computer (in 1983) was a BBC Micro model B, with all of 64K of RAM. Its flavour of BASIC was significantly ahead of its time, including an assembly language compiler that could dump compiled assembler into the body of the BASIC code, whence it could be called as needed. Very nice...

@TheSulross 16 сағат бұрын

The UK has its own very special contribution to the BASIC saga - BBC BASIC. Objectively it’s a superior dialect of BASIC than Bill Gates BASIC

@HansBezemer 22 минут бұрын

@@TheSulross Isn't anything superior to any MS product.. Innovation was never the point of Microsoft. Making a buck is, was and always has been it prime objective. Happily been using Linux for 25 years.

@davibortolozzo748 5 күн бұрын

Hearing you say "PCC" referring to a bunch of computer hobbyists from the last century is quite funny for a Brazilian

@HansBezemer 25 минут бұрын

I learned my trade with BASIC - and I still have a soft spot for the language. I wrote a BASIC interpreter myself for that reason, and in its early days, I modeled it after Tiny Basic - with which it is still (syntactically) largely compatible. It has developed immensely over the years and now it can even be considered a "structured BASIC" - with procedures, functions and local variables. Tiny Basic was a huge inspiration - and I have to give kudos to its creators.

@margrie 6 күн бұрын

Your videos are always so well edited, I love them 🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵

@carlospinheirotorres9499 4 күн бұрын

Nice way to go about the timeline and though the constructive criticism found problems with it, I find the use of giant beautiful colorful typography of the dates extremely useful as visual aid. I can all those dates still. I think it was a clever way (or happy accident) to make the reverse voyage smooth as real love (if real). Good work, man - THANKES GOBLES!

@pineapplequeen13 Күн бұрын

Another awesome video! Engaging, well-structured, and informative! Love all your stuff, dude.

@panchisoto22 7 күн бұрын

Wonderful job! Your videos are truly the best around. Also lovely progress on your voice! : )

@unfeathered 7 күн бұрын

Excellent video - seriously, thank you :)

@Hyreia 2 күн бұрын

Micro Soft: Microcomputer Software. Oh my gawd. I just got it.

@Tsukuyomi500 7 күн бұрын

Aye aye Capn!

@Lumi_Snow 7 күн бұрын

how in the law of fuck dose a video this good get no love?

@georgerice6488 Күн бұрын

Does

@ThatSkiFreak 4 күн бұрын

love the visual style, as always

@xakh 7 күн бұрын

Dr. Dobbs 😂 18:51 I dunno if you've looked into the Church of the Subgenius, but when it comes to ancient computer history they're Kind Of A Big Deal as a cultural meme. Always funny to see where ol' Bob Dobbs pops up lol.

@LoveBbyJay 15 сағат бұрын

Looking forward to your merch!

@yumry Күн бұрын

loved this video, really awesome!

@xhxhhdbdb7765 7 күн бұрын

Always a good morning when you wake up to a new krb video. Love the continued content regardless of the topic its always a good time

@FluffyPuppyKasey Күн бұрын

"designed and constructed wholesale by a multibillion dollar multinational multipurpose company that controls something in the double digit percentages of the entire computing market" Me, with my Framework Laptop 16 running Linux: So about that...

@Nono-hk3is 7 күн бұрын

Astoundingly good video, thank you!

@dirktermagant5629 7 күн бұрын

Love your work.

@TobyDeshane 7 сағат бұрын

Great work on the vid! (it's just "pet", not "P.E.T.", though. That was weird. 😆)

@ducky19991 7 күн бұрын

I can’t wait to see the merch

@Nono-hk3is 7 күн бұрын

5:11 the fact that none of these languages (cobol, fortran, lisp, algol) had been well received by students at Dartmouth, and that BASIC was the solution, says a lit about the quality of students at Dartmouth at that time. (In fairness they were probably looking for a language to support an introduction to computing classes--im just reacting to the implication that BASIC is in anyway superior to those others )

@rya3190 6 күн бұрын

To be fair, Cobol and Fortran outlived the others.

@Nono-hk3is 5 күн бұрын

@@rya3190 true. If we measure by the number of people who directly used these languages, BASIC probably wins the popularity contest. If we measure by the number of lines of code written in the world times the number of years it was actually doing measurable "work" (i.e. adding value to someone), COBOL and FORTRAN win by a landslide (with COBOL probably a neck ahead of the FORTRAN) If we try to measure by influence, then ALGOL wins hands down, at least if you are willing to consider it a class of programming languages rather than a single language. ALGOL is considered the root of the imperative language family tree, heavily influencing nearly everything that's come after: C, C++, Java, JavaScript, Python, C#, etc. LISP also has had significant influence, although less on future languages, and more on Computer Science theory as a whole. The LISP family of languages were used to prototype concepts in such subfields as AI, computability theory, virtualization, garbage collection , and language scoping.

@NuntiusLegis 4 күн бұрын

You have no clue. BASIC was a well rounded language providing high functionality for math and string operations, and was the first high-level language optimised for client-server operation (time sharing) - hundreds of terminals could be hooked up to the main computer at Dartmouth allowing the use of BASIC, giving people an experience close to personal computing for the frist time. No other language could do that. John G. Kemeny, who invented the language and wrote the first BASIC compiler, was a genius - professor for mathematics and philosophy, assistent of Albert Einstein (who was a genius at physics but needed help with the math), mathematician for the Manhatten project, etc. That clown Edsger W. Dijkstra almost single-handedly ruined the reputation of BASIC by piling up unbelievable bullshit about the language in his propaganda because of his fetish for overly strict structures in programming, forcing the mind to think within these limits instead of the free creation of algorithms. The resulting shift to languages like C and C++ resulted in bloated, slow, buggy code that took way longer to get finished compared to contemporary compiled BASIC programs. This only changed when compilers for C and C++ became better than BASIC compilers because more development taking place there due to the success of Dijkstra and his growing army of parrots.

@rya3190 4 күн бұрын

@@NuntiusLegis I guess it got a second chance with its successor Python. Though, I feel like that is in part cause we have more resources to spare. We couldn't have gotten Elite Dangerous, among others, with BASIC and many operating systems would be far more bloated running on it. It does seem like Dijkstra could've had more appreciation for it....

@NuntiusLegis 4 күн бұрын

@@rya3190 Had all the development that went into C++ (compilers) gone into BASIC, there is no reason why operating systems or games written in an advanced BASIC shouldn't be as good or better. (I don't think Elite Dangerous is a good example though with it's limited multiplayer approach.)

@jecelassumpcaojr890 3 күн бұрын

When Bill Gates wrote his letter, copyright law in the USA protected source code but not binaries. So his threat of legal action was somewhat empty. But the law was changed just a few months later and it is extremely likely he was aware that this was coming and was counting on it.

@jadeo2228 7 күн бұрын

from what I'm seeing, $589 should be worth almost 4 grand in 2024 - am I missing something there?

@CaptainKRB 7 күн бұрын

The 1k figure was specifically in reference to the price of Altair BASIC, not the price of the whole package

@jadeo2228 7 күн бұрын

@@CaptainKRB OH! that seems obvious in hindsight, thanks!

@drewwilson8756 7 күн бұрын

Those onion graphics sure have come a long way. Good video man!

@kirtknierim3687 7 күн бұрын

Good stuff bro.

@fixups6536 6 күн бұрын

16:51 I'm pretty sure the Python v3.12 interpreter is much much more than 31kB, and that javac v19 is much much more than 39kB. Looks like you are mixing up kB and MB.

@KevinVeroneau 2 күн бұрын

I was looking for someone who would also notice that...

@HansBezemer 17 минут бұрын

@@KevinVeroneau It seemed highly unlikely to me too. Lua is one of the smallest interpreters and I doubt you can make it 40K (footprint) - even on a 32bit platform. My own compiler is pretty small, in SLOC much smaller than Lua (5 KLOC vs. 13 KLOC), but even on a 32bit platform it's between 50-100K (depending on the compiler).

@ZackBunofficial 7 күн бұрын

Cool, also: hading to the new merch site right now, lol

@shsrpr Күн бұрын

14:35 "Interpreting the interpreter interpreting the interpreter interpreting..." That's a tongue twister! Try and say that 5 times as fast as you can.

@eX1st4132 7 күн бұрын

Yippee!!! new upload

@VJFranzK 2 сағат бұрын

Y'all might like PICO8 now!

@bobito3861 5 күн бұрын

do you have a new mic? may not, but something about your voices tone is different than i remember. thanks for the content 💕

@001UnknownPerson 6 күн бұрын

howd you do the lights on the render at 9:39 ? great video!

@lenowoo Күн бұрын

Subbed

@anon_y_mousse 3 күн бұрын

I have Python 3.9 installed from the repositories for my distro, and it's 15k. I've got a build of 3.11 that I was playing with because they've got some newer features I was interested in and it was 23mb. I decided to run `strip` on it and it only went down to 5mb. Makes me wonder what their build options are that they can get a build under 1mb. However, there is one further consideration on the size of the final binary, it is dynamically linked and thus to get an accurate accounting of its size you would need to add up all of the libraries it uses as well. Even if you restricted yourself to just the functions from these external libraries that it uses, you might actually be looking at megabytes of code. Either way, definitely makes me want to write another BASIC environment. The last one I wrote was probably 20 years ago, but it was an editor and interpreter in one and I should really complete the trifecta with a compiler.

@shmovinnn 6 күн бұрын

ur so inspiring to me love ur videos keep up the great work 🦉🫶

@EloraGrimm 4 күн бұрын

something feels different about this video compared to past videos. i cant quite put my finger on it but im not entirely sure i like it.

@piwot8939 7 күн бұрын

cool

@shangsty 6 күн бұрын

this video was a true banger

@Ndetonados 7 күн бұрын

As a brazillian, hearing PCC so much in this context is somewhat funny

@mr.sexyman123 7 күн бұрын

what does pcc mean in brazil?

@mateuslira3411 Күн бұрын

11:23 lmao nowdays "pcc" is the name of one of the biggest drug cartels in south America

@rosyspex 7 күн бұрын

Have a good night lady!!!

@shinyeevee456 2 күн бұрын

Love that Billy pulled the equivalent of whining on social media which triggered everyone else to completely oppose him and make the original issue even worse rotfl

@demetrikaredis7611 5 күн бұрын

What happened to your voice? It used to be so much deeper and there was something very captivating and soothing about it before

@Kameko-uq5wy 15 сағат бұрын

>Commodore "Pee Eee Tee" Sorry, try again.

@CaptainKRB 14 сағат бұрын

next time ill say it exactly the same way just for you

@Kameko-uq5wy 13 сағат бұрын

@@CaptainKRB I didn't expect such a passive-aggressive response. Glad I didn't subscribe.

@CaptainKRB 13 сағат бұрын

not really sure what you expected

@kmesh9 7 күн бұрын

Very cool video, but I'll add a bit of criticism - the method of "starting one topic and then cutting it to jump back in time to explain more basic topic" (no pun intended), while quite funny, is not very convenient and a bit annoying if you are trying to immerse yourself in the story. Your are constantly (at the start) pulling attention and immersion from one topic to another. I had to check the timeline to make sure that I can now start remembering the points you've made because it would be relevant in terms of the timeline

@KintchD 7 күн бұрын

Honestly, I personally disagree. I found that "going backwards" kind of helped in contextualizing what was to come. Granted, I might've been able to follow the video without a problem because this subject is not entirely unfamiliar to me. In any case, I do appreciate new ways to structure videos, even if they don't work for everyone. Keep this up, KRB!

@Outofcontexst 7 күн бұрын

I kinda liked that too

@Rabcup 7 күн бұрын

Sounds like a skill issue to me Storytelling of this video was entirely logical, albeit not chronological

@Nono-hk3is 7 күн бұрын

I really liked it

@IrishGamerJG 7 күн бұрын

Have you ever wrote a paper for school? It's literally how you structure an essay

@bareto 7 күн бұрын

Just start at the beginning. This isn't cute.

@eX1st4132 7 күн бұрын

It is.

@Cooe. Күн бұрын

Gates was completely right in that letter though. 🤷 Without strong copyright law enforcement for computer code/software the American software industry (and potentially Silicon Valley as a whole) would NEVER have taken off. The money simply wouldn't have been there to support it. The 1970's hobbyist dreams of some kind of free software distribution utopia was always doomed to fail.