Re: mystery card

["Dr. Wolfgang Otrebski" <wolfgang.otrebski@siemens.at>]

mdragon@polarnet.com wrote:
> 
> > As far as I know, it is useless because I have never seen CPM software
> > sold anywhere.
> 
> That is because almost all of it was freeware.  This was just a language
> that almost anyone could learn and everyone wrote little programs for it
> and said, 'Here, bask in the light of my glorious little program.' Some
> of the programs are VERY useful.

There have been, however, lots of commercial programs and development
systems available, some of which are still lurking on floppies
(pirated copies w/o or w' little doc).
One of the really famous programs (on sale almost anywhere in its
day) was the Wordstar, but You probably have also heard of dBase ...
Not to mention compilers for C (Mix C), COBOL (one of the early MF)
FORTRAN, PASCAL, PL/I ...
There even has been a COBOL program generator. You designed the screens,
entered the data description, added a few lines of Your own and presto
the application was ready.
-- 
Standard disclaimer applies (anyone following advice given here does so
at her/his own risk - I speak for myself and not for my employer).