Editing Lisp Machines (section)

==History of LMI==
The following parable-like story is told about LMI by [[Steven Levy]] and used for the first time in ''[[Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution#Hacker ethic|Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution]]'' (1984). Levy's account of hackers is in large part based on the values of the [[Hacker (academia)|hackers]] at MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Among these hackers was [[Richard Stallman]], whom Levy at the time called the last true hacker.

{{quote|The people at the lab came together, and together created a true [[Hacker (programmer subculture)|hacker]]'s machine, the original [[Lisp Machine]]s. When [[Russell Noftsker]] suggested that they move on, and spread the gospel beyond the walls of the lab, the hackers at the lab differed wildly in how they wanted the company run.

Greenblatt insisted that the company remain true to the hacker spirit, in that it should bow to no one, and focus solely on the creation of a good product. Some other hackers felt that this was not the way to lead a company. If this was done, it would never grow and truly spread the word of the [[hacker ethic]]. Furthermore, Greenblatt demanded control over the company, to ensure that his vision was carried forth. Others (including [[Bill Gosper]] and [[Tom Knight (scientist)|Tom Knight]]) felt that to be under the rule of Greenblatt was unacceptable.}}

When Noftsker started [[Symbolics]], while he was able to pay salaries, he didn't actually have a building or any equipment for the programmers to work on. He bargained with Patrick Winston that, in exchange for allowing Symbolics' staff to keep working out of MIT, Symbolics would let MIT use internally and freely all the software Symbolics developed. Unfortunately this openness would later lead to accusations of [[intellectual property theft]].

In the early 1980s, to prevent software from being used on their competitors' computers, manufacturers stopped distributing [[source code]] and began using copyright and restrictive software licenses to limit or prohibit copying and redistribution. Such [[proprietary software]] had existed before, but this shift in the legal characteristics of software was triggered by the U.S. [[Copyright Act of 1976]];<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/nerdtv004 |title=#4 Brewster Kahle |first=Robert X |last=Cringely |work=NerdTV}} around the 46th minute</ref> see [[software copyright]].

While both companies delivered [[proprietary software]], [[Richard Stallman]] believed that LMI, unlike Symbolics, had tried to avoid hurting the lab.  Stallman had proclaimed that "the prospect of charging money for software was a crime against humanity."<ref name=freeasinfreedom-Chap6>{{cite book
|author=Williams, Sam
|url=https://archive.org/details/freeasinfreedomr00will
|title=Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software
|chapter=Chapter 6: The Emacs Commune
|publisher=O'Reilly Media
|year=2002
|isbn=0-596-00287-4
|url-access=registration
}}</ref> He clarified, years later, that it is blocking the user's freedom that he believes is a "crime", not the act of charging for a copy of the software.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/article.php/12068_3737586_3 
 |title=Richard Stallman, Live and Unplugged 
 |publisher=Datamation 
 |first=James 
 |last=Maguire 
 |date=March 31, 2008 
 |quote=Q: You once said "the prospect of charging money for software was a crime against humanity." Do you still believe this? A: Well, I was not distinguishing the two meanings of free. 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408101318/http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/article.php/12068_3737586_3 
 |archive-date=April 8, 2008 
}}</ref>
Symbolics had recruited most of the remaining MIT hackers including notable hacker Bill Gosper, who then left the AI Lab. Symbolics forced Greenblatt to also resign at the AI lab, by citing MIT policies. So for two years at the MIT AI Lab, from 1982 to the end of 1983, Stallman singlehandedly duplicated the efforts of the Symbolics programmers, in order to prevent them from gaining a monopoly on the lab's computers.<ref>{{cite book |title=[[Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution]] |first=Steven |last=Levy |publisher=[[Anchor Press]]/[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] |year=1984 |isbn=0-385-19195-2}}</ref> Although LMI was able to benefit from Stallman's freely available code, he was the last of the "hackers" at the lab. Later programmers would have to sign [[non-disclosure agreement]]s not to share [[source code]] or technical information with other software developers.