HeadFirst PD
Encyclopedia
HeadFirst Public Domain was a library of public domain
software for the BBC Micro
and Acorn Electron
8-bit computers. It also offered several discs of software for the Acorn Archimedes
.
It was set up in December 1992 by two friends, Gareth Boden and James Treadwell. Gareth Boden seems to have done the majority of the programming. The friends were just leaving school at the time. It was a bedroom enterprise and HeadFirst PD produced paper catalogues of its products. The catalogues invited people to buy discs full of public domain software
from HeadFirst PD for £1.25 per disc.
There are relatively few demos on the Acorn Electron and HeadFirst PD was unusual in that it released the majority of its software for the Acorn Electron, not the more-popular BBC Micro. Indeed, several of the better HeadFirst PD demos were Electron-only. The Invader Demo and the Vortex Demo were prime examples.
There are several different 'versions' of some HeadFirst PD discs, as the demos were sometimes revisited and slightly improved. The early versions of the discs were superseded. The early HeadFirst PD catalogues, for example, typically had one demo per disc. By the latest catalogue, seven or eight demos - although not all were programmed by the two authors - were typically on a menu-driven disc.
Not all games on HeadFirst PD discs were in fact programmed by HeadFirst PD. Many other public domain groups were going strong at the time, and each library 'borrowed' programs from the other. Some titles on HeadFirst PD discs also appear on BBC PD discs and Mad Rabbit PD discs.
HeadFirst PD was closed down in 1995. The two friends were contributors to the Electron User Group magazine and the launch and demise of the library is documented in full between issues #7 and #23.
The whole library of HeadFirst PD discs was 'lost' in 1995 when the library stopped supplying discs. In 2008, the library was re-discovered by Gareth Boden and was made available on the Acorn Electron World web site.
The best known demos from HeadFirst PD remain the Invaders Demo and the Vortex Demo. Invaders shows a scrolling parallax stars backdrop with a simple space invaders game coupled with scrolling message. Vortex shows a spiral with interrupt-driven music and colour switching.
HeadFirst PD also produced several games, and 'data-packs' to such popular professional titles of the day such as White Magic
and Repton Infinity. In fact, their extension 'data-packs' are the only surviving fan-based extensions to these popular Electron games.
HeadFirst PD also produced a spin-off library of images for use with the Stop Press 64 desktop publishing program.
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
software for the BBC Micro
BBC Micro
The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, was a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers for the BBC Computer Literacy Project, operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation...
and Acorn Electron
Acorn Electron
The Acorn Electron is a budget version of the BBC Micro educational/home computer made by Acorn Computers Ltd. It has 32 kilobytes of RAM, and its ROM includes BBC BASIC along with its operating system....
8-bit computers. It also offered several discs of software for the Acorn Archimedes
Acorn Archimedes
The Acorn Archimedes was Acorn Computers Ltd's first general purpose home computer to be based on their own ARM architecture.Using a RISC design with a 32-bit CPU, at its launch in June 1987, the Archimedes was stated as running at 4 MIPS, with a claim of 18 MIPS during tests.The name is commonly...
.
It was set up in December 1992 by two friends, Gareth Boden and James Treadwell. Gareth Boden seems to have done the majority of the programming. The friends were just leaving school at the time. It was a bedroom enterprise and HeadFirst PD produced paper catalogues of its products. The catalogues invited people to buy discs full of public domain software
Public domain software
Public domain software is software that has been placed in the public domain, in other words there is absolutely no ownership of the intellectual property that the software represents....
from HeadFirst PD for £1.25 per disc.
There are relatively few demos on the Acorn Electron and HeadFirst PD was unusual in that it released the majority of its software for the Acorn Electron, not the more-popular BBC Micro. Indeed, several of the better HeadFirst PD demos were Electron-only. The Invader Demo and the Vortex Demo were prime examples.
There are several different 'versions' of some HeadFirst PD discs, as the demos were sometimes revisited and slightly improved. The early versions of the discs were superseded. The early HeadFirst PD catalogues, for example, typically had one demo per disc. By the latest catalogue, seven or eight demos - although not all were programmed by the two authors - were typically on a menu-driven disc.
Not all games on HeadFirst PD discs were in fact programmed by HeadFirst PD. Many other public domain groups were going strong at the time, and each library 'borrowed' programs from the other. Some titles on HeadFirst PD discs also appear on BBC PD discs and Mad Rabbit PD discs.
HeadFirst PD was closed down in 1995. The two friends were contributors to the Electron User Group magazine and the launch and demise of the library is documented in full between issues #7 and #23.
The whole library of HeadFirst PD discs was 'lost' in 1995 when the library stopped supplying discs. In 2008, the library was re-discovered by Gareth Boden and was made available on the Acorn Electron World web site.
The best known demos from HeadFirst PD remain the Invaders Demo and the Vortex Demo. Invaders shows a scrolling parallax stars backdrop with a simple space invaders game coupled with scrolling message. Vortex shows a spiral with interrupt-driven music and colour switching.
HeadFirst PD also produced several games, and 'data-packs' to such popular professional titles of the day such as White Magic
White Magic
White Magic may refer to:* White magic, healing or "good," as opposed to Black magic; see also magic * White Magic , an American rock band* White Magic , album by Swedish musician ceo...
and Repton Infinity. In fact, their extension 'data-packs' are the only surviving fan-based extensions to these popular Electron games.
HeadFirst PD also produced a spin-off library of images for use with the Stop Press 64 desktop publishing program.