[Info-vax] [Attn: HP Employees] PDP-11 OS hobbyist licensing

[JF Mezei]

On 13-10-02 16:27, Rich Alderson wrote:

> I do believe that one reason for lack of answers from HP may be that they do
> not have the right to issue licenses, that being one of the things which Mentec
> acquired from Digital and which XX2247 purchased in turn.  But that is only my
> own opinion, and should not be taken as any more than that.

The other question is whether DEC/Compaq/HP retained mere rights to use
the IP in the PDP 11 operating systems (and self issue licencxes sor
internal use), or whether they retained ownership over the IP and merely
grant Mentex/XX2247 the right to sell licenses.

Did Mentec do any development and issue new version of the PDP11
operating systems ?  If so, this may indicate that DEC/Compaq/HP do not
have a large amount of control over it, especially if the software was
sufficiently modified by mentec over the years to become original art
owned by Mentec.