Open Letter to Hobbyists

The Open Letter to Hobbyists was a 1976 open letter written by Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, to early personal computer hobbyists, in which Gates expresses dismay at the rampant copyright infringement of software taking place in the hobbyist community, particularly with regard to his company's software.

In the letter, Gates expressed frustration with most computer hobbyists who were using his company's Altair BASIC software without having paid for it. He asserted that such widespread unauthorized copying in effect discourages developers from investing time and money in creating high-quality software. He cited the unfairness of gaining the benefits of software authors' time, effort, and capital without paying them.

Altair BASIC

In December 1974 Bill Gates was a student at Harvard University and Paul Allen worked for Honeywell in Boston when they saw the Altair 8800 computer in the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics. They had written BASIC language programs since their days at Lakeside School in Seattle and knew the Altair computer was powerful enough to support a BASIC interpreter. They wanted to be the first to offer BASIC for the Altair computer and the software development tools they had previously created for their Intel 8008 microprocessor based Traf-O-Data computer would give them a head start.

Open letter

An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally.

Open letters usually take the form of a letter addressed to an individual but provided to the public through newspapers and other media, such as a letter to the editor or blog. Especially common are critical open letters addressed to political leaders.

Currently there are very few sites solely specialising in publishing open letters. However, there are community sites where visitors can publish their own letters and promote them to a wider audience. Sociological or historical research on open letters are also not found, although sociologists and historians have written open letters. Recently, a professor of anthropology at Vidyasagar University in India has written a comprehensive article on open letter.

Letters patent are another form of open letter in which a legal document is both mailed to a person by the government, and publicized so that all are made aware of it. Open letters can also be addressed directly to a group rather than any individual.

Open letter (disambiguation)

An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience.

Open Letter may also refer to:

See also

Magna Carta Holy Grail

Magna Carta... Holy Grail (alternatively written as Magna Carta Holy Grail) is the twelfth studio album by American rapper Jay Z. It was made available for free digital download for Samsung customers via the Jay Z Magna Carta app on July 4, 2013. It was released for retail sale on July 8, 2013, by Roc-A-Fella and Roc Nation while being distributed by Universal. The album features guest appearances by Justin Timberlake, Nas, Rick Ross, Frank Ocean and Beyoncé. Most of the album was produced by Timbaland and Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, while other producers included Boi-1da, Mike Will Made It, Hit-Boy, Mike Dean, No ID, The-Dream, Swizz Beatz, and Pharrell Williams among others. The album was promoted through various commercials presented by Samsung and was not preceded by any retail singles.

Upon its release, Magna Carta Holy Grail was met with mixed reviews from music critics. Some complimented the album's production and composition, while others were disappointed with its overall theme and found many songs repetitive. On the day of its physical release in the United States, the album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of 1,000,000 copies. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 528,000 copies in its first week, making it Jay-Z's 13th consecutive studio album to top the chart. On September 2, 2013, it was announced that Magna Carta Holy Grail was certified double Platinum by the RIAA, for shipments of two million copies in the United States. The album was nominated in six categories at the 2014 Grammy Awards winning the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration trophy for "Holy Grail" featuring Justin Timberlake.