[Coco] Fw: Which came first: BASIC09 or OS-9/6809

[jdaggett at gate.net]

On 10 Mar 2010 at 11:03, Bob Devries wrote:

> Which came first: BASIC09 or OS-9/6809Hi all,
> Here's some information from Ric Yeates of RadiSys regarding the development timeline.
> Regards, Bob Devries
> 

I am more interested in the license between Motorola and Microware. 

Who drove the requirements for development? 

>From Terry Ritter's resume you have this:

"Software Engineer, 1979-81

Originator, Principal Systems Engineer and "Keeper of the Specification" -- MC6809 
Advanced Microprocessor, 1977-80 [I have some Motorola MC68B09EP's made in the 20th 
week of 1999, thus marking almost 20 years of 6809 production!]

Project Engineer -- MC6809 Breadboard, 1978-79
The LS-TTL "breadboard" of the MC6809 NMOS design. 

Originator and Supervising Project Engineer -- BASIC09, 1978-80
A structured BASIC language project, with operating system OS9 and associated 
specifications."

Based on Mr Ritter's resume and his articles in Byte, I come to the conclusion that both the 
OS and BASIC application were driven by Motorola. That would mean that Motorola was the 
end customer and owner of at least the basic application. It does not mean that Motorola 
wrote part or even that Microware wrote both. Just that the specifications for the OS and 
Basic09 were driven by Motorola. Microware would have been more or less under contract to 
write the software. It is also probable that Motorola would later relenquish some of its control 
as Motorola turned its attention towards the MC6800 and its derivatives and the HC11. 

Also from Terry's resume:

"Staff Engineer, Motorola MOS Division, Microcomputer Systems Design Group, Jul. 1976 - 
Jan. 1981. Architect of Microcomponent Chips, including 6809 Advanced Microprocessor 
specification, architecture and assembly language. Architect of structured BASIC 
language for 6809."

He was also part of the team that probably developed an assembler for the 6809. 

Also by the way I have MC68B09E's with the date code of 43 week of 1999. Twenty-three 
weeks older than what he has. 

Also note that the original breadboard was done with LS-TTL gates. That would be nice to 
see. 

james


> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: Ric Yeates 
> To: devries.bob at gmail.com 
> Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 1:20 AM
> Subject: Which came first: BASIC09 or OS-9/6809
> 
> 
> Bob,
> 
> Regarding your query about BASIC09 vs. OS-9/6809.
> 
> 
> Based on the timeline shown in the Winter 1992 Pipelines (Micoware Celebrates 15th Anniversary) it breaks down like this:
> 
> ·       1977: Microware incorporated, RT/68 released
> 
> ·       1978: A/BASIC compiler and LISP interpreter released, Motorola BASIC development license signed
> 
> ·       1979: OS-9/6809 Development begins
> 
> ·       1980: OS-9/6809 and BASIC09 released
> 
> 
> So, it's a tie. They were both released in the same year.
> 
> 
> The way it was explained to me was this:
> 
> In order for the BASIC being developed to run efficiently on the hardware, it needs some rudimentary services. Rather than create the services as part of the BASIC, they were split out into an executive that eventually became the OS-9 operating system. So, if I had to cast a vote, I would say that BASIC09 was developed first, but quickly became inseparable from OS-9/6809.
> 
> I'm no expert, though. I didn't start working at Microware until 1987, well into the 68000 era.
> 
> 
> Ric Yeates
> 
> RadiSys Software Engineering - OS-9
> 
> 5550 Wild Rose Ln Ste 400, West Des Moines, IA 50266-5304
> 
> Office: (515) 661-6212
> 
> Mobile: (515) 494-1062
> 
> 
> 
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