Gary Kildall

INDUCTED IN THE CLASS OF 2002

Notable accomplishments:

• Developed BIOS
• Co-wrote (with Kathryn Strutynski ) Programming Language for Microcomputers (PL/M) for the Intel 8008 (1973)
• Wrote the CP/M (Control Program/Monitor) operating system (1974)
• Co-founded (with his wife, Dorothy) Digital Research Inc. (1974)
• Developed the first BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) to launch an operating system at bootup (1975)
• Authorized development of the GEM graphical user interface desktop (1985)

Quotes:
“Programs are like mechanical devices; the way one piece of code works with another is very similar to the way one gear meshes with another gear. Building code is a little like building a transmission.” (“Programmers at Work” by Susan Lammers, 1986)

“In 1976, Glenn Ewing approached me with a problem: Imsai, Incorporated, for whom Glenn consulted, had shipped a large number of disk subsystems with a promise that an operating system would follow. I was somewhat reluctant to adapt CP/M to yet another controller, and thus the notion of a separated Basic I/O System (BIOS) evolved. In principle, the hardware dependent portions of CP/M were concentrated in the BIOS, thus allowing Glenn, or anyone else, to adapt CP/M to the Imsai equipment.” (“The History of CP/M, The Evolution of an Industry: One Person’s Viewpoint.” Dr. Dobb’s Journal of Computer Calisthenics & Orthodontia, 1980)

Suggested reading:
“Programmers at Work” by Susan Lammers (1986)

Learn more:
Gary Kildall entry at the Computer History Museum