"When CP/M enthusiast Tim Olmstead died from cancer on
9/11/01, the Unofficial CP/M Web site he had been maintaining had
to be taken down because of licensing issues with the software
collection. Now, Lineo has granted unrestricted use of the
technology and the site is back up.
CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers) is important because
it was the first generic operating system for microcomputers. It
appeared n 1974, according to a 1981 BYTE magazine article . It is
the precursor to DOS. Prior to its creation, each type of hardware
or "brand" of computer had its unique operating system. With CP/M,
for the first time, any application could run on any kind of
hardware, on top of CP/M.
There is some debate about what CP/M actually stands for. Some
claim it is an acronym for "Control Program for Microprocessors,"
and others maintain is it "Control Program/Monitor." According to
the comp.os.cpm FAQ, CP/M creator Gary Kildall referred to the OS
in public as "Control Program for Microcomputers."
