Triumph of The Nerds Ethical Issues

Part 1: Discussion Questions

• Free versus proprietary software.– Should software be free?– Would the industry be better if software was free?– Does proprietary software restrict or stifle

intellectual growth and development?– Dan Bricklin (Visicalc inventor with Bob Frankston)• What is the best measure of success?

Part 2: Discussion Questions

– IBM’s open architecture: good or bad decision?– Kildall vs Gates: decision not to sign with IBM good or bad

and why?– QDos: Tim Patterson’s sale of his operating system. What

do you think of that decision ($50K)?– What ethical issues are present in reverse engineering?– Talking point: Larry Ellison: IIBM made the biggest mistake

of all: 1/3 market value of Inter and 1/3 to Microsoft by accident.

– Putting people under: is this OK?