February 2, 2026
Pirates vs Profits: Round 1
50 years ago, a young Bill Gates took on the 'software pirates'
From free tapes to billion-dollar debates — were the “pirates” heroes
TLDR: Bill Gates’ 1976 letter scolding hobbyists for copying software hits its 50th anniversary, and the internet is split. Some say piracy fueled Microsoft’s rise and home computing; others defend paying developers, with bonus drama over licensing and the timing of the nostalgia. It matters because it shaped today’s software culture.
Fifty years after Bill Gates’ fiery “Open Letter to Hobbyists” — the one where he basically said “Most of you steal your software” — the internet is doing what it does best: arguing. Fans of the early hacker ethos are laughing off Gates’ $40,000 computer-time claim as “funny money,” while others say, hey, paying creators matters. The spiciest thread? A user calls it “ironic” that the interviewee tied to the Post-Open License is weighing in on open vs. paid software, turning the anniversary into a license drama.
Then come the throwbacks: commenters name-drop Xerox Alto, CP/M, and 86-DOS, hinting at the eternal “who borrowed from whom” debate — with one cheeky nod to Noah Wylie’s TV movie cameo. The humor flies too: one quip labels young Gates a future “naughty boy,” while another suggests Microsoft later learned to love loose anti-piracy because it built global mindshare. And meta-drama bursts in: Why reminisce about vintage Gates while there’s more “obscene” news about him right now?
In short, it’s pirates vs. profits all over again. Was sharing Altair BASIC a community miracle or daylight robbery? The comments turn a dusty tape into a fresh flame war — and everyone brought marshmallows.
Key Points
- •This week marks 50 years since Bill Gates’ 1976 “Open Letter to Hobbyists” protesting unpaid copying of Altair BASIC.
- •Gates, Paul Allen, and Monte Davidoff created a BASIC interpreter for MITS’s Altair 8800, an early successful home computer.
- •A paper tape containing Altair BASIC was copied and widely distributed among Homebrew Computer Club members before official release.
- •Gates argued that most Altair users hadn’t paid, citing high development costs and low effective wages as a barrier to producing quality software.
- •Figures from the era, including Bruce Perens and Lee Felsenstein, provided perspectives on small-team development and disputed cost claims.