[NTLK] Last attempt at ROMs for Einstein, I need your help

[Alan Grassia]

Hello Newton Friends,

It is an interesting question as to whether or not Apple would release the Newton (an eMate) ROMs or the Newton OS source code.

I was trying to think of and example of Apple releasing the ROMs, OS, or application source code to the public.   The one example that I came up with was the release of the Lisa OS Software via the Computer History Museum (CHM).

CHM’s Hansen Hsu has a 1/19/2023 curatorial insights blog post on the subject at:
https://computerhistory.org/blog/the-lisa-apples-most-influential-failure/

The Apple Lisa software download page lists the Apple Academic License Agreement for Lisa OS Software v3.1 restrictions that one may not "redistribute, publish, sublicense, sell, rent or transfer the Apple Software.”  The Lisa OS software download page, including the agreement, can be found at:
https://info.computerhistory.org/apple-lisa-code

Back in 2010, CHM, in partnership with Apple, released the MacPaint and QuickDraw source code (again, for non-commercial use.)
https://computerhistory.org/blog/macpaint-and-quickdraw-source-code/

One possible approach to having a request for Newton ROMs or software released to the public could be to approach CHM to see if they could petition Apple for a release as part of their Art of Code program.

To David’s point, there are likely many sticky legal issues at hand that would need review and sign-off.  Maybe a non-commerical use license could get around some of them.

It would be nice getting the source to the Newton ROMs, but it seems like we’re still going to have to rely on pulling the software off ROM chips from devices we purchased first or second-hand.

Cheers,
Alan Grassia
 
-------------------------------
OMP, MP2000, MP2100, eMate 300
 
Website: http://blog.smartphonefanatics.com
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> On Aug 27, 2023, at 6:52 PM, Marisa Giancarla via NewtonTalk <newtontalk at newtontalk.net> wrote:
> 
> Apple did release the ROMs for classic Macs, so there is hope...
> 
> 
> Marisa
> 
> On 8/27/23 14:26, David Arnold wrote:
>> In my understanding of such matters, the main roadblock ends up being legal: even if there is executive willingness to make something available, there is both the cost (time) and practical ability to determine whether some software can be made available to copy/distribute at no cost.
>> 
>> Legal folks need to determine to their satisfaction that there’s no third-party obligations to be met. The sort of thing that immediately springs to mind is the cursive handwriting recognizer from Paragraph: Apple potentially had/has a royalty obligation to pay a per-copy license fee for it.  Often, the parties to such agreements are long since defunct or the ownership of specific products is buried under layers of corporate acquisitions: it can be impossible to determine who to even pay, even if you know what is included in the ROM.
>> 
>> Such ambiguities are legal timebombs: a lawsuit waiting to happen years later when someone desperate for money figures out that they own it (maybe), and Apple has been giving it away — jackpot!   Apple legal will never sign off on a release with this kind of thing unresolved.
>> 
>> Given the elapsed time, the documentation chaos that likely occurred with the Newton Inc spin-off and subsequent reabsorption, and the frankly limited upside for Apple even if it were possible to identify and sort out all the legalities, I don’t hold much hope that such a release would be possible.
>> 
>> All that said, if someone wants to draft a letter, I’d be happy to help with editing and refining the message (and sign it, of course).
>> 
>> Apologies for the pessimism,
>> 
>> 
>> d