The most aggressive in this strategy was Symbolics. By
the end of 1980, the company had hired 14 AI Lab
staffers as part-time consultants to develop its
version of the Lisp Machine. Apart from Stallman, the
rest signed on to help LMI.See H. P. Newquist, The Brain Makers: Genius, Ego,
and
Greed in the Quest for Machines that Think (Sams
Publishing, 1994): 172.
At first, Stallman accepted both companies' attempt to
commercialize the Lisp machine, even though it meant
more work for him. Both licensed the Lisp Machine OS
source code from MIT, and it was Stallman's job to
update the lab's own Lisp Machine to keep pace with the
latest innovations. Although Symbolics' license with
MIT gave Stallman the right to review, but not copy,
Symbolics' source code, Stallman says a "gentleman's
agreement" between Symbolics management and the AI Lab
made it possible to borrow attractive snippets in
traditional hacker fashion.
On March 16, 1982, a date Stallman remembers well
because it was his birthday, Symbolics executives
decided to end this gentlemen's agreement.
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