[Cryptography] The First Open Source: Collected Algorithms from CACM

[Scott Guthery]

In re open source and code quality, the Algorithms column of the 
Communications of the ACM published both Certification and Remarks 
submissions in addition to source code submissions.  Certifications 
documented successful implementations of previously published code and 
Remarks documented improvements, extensions, &c.

The first code submission was an integration routine, QuadI.  It was 18 
lines long.  The second was Rootfinder.  It was 10 lines long. Perhaps not 
surprisingly, as code submissions got longer Certification and Remarks 
submissions became fewer.

All the code from the CACM Algorithms column is available at www.netlib.org 
and judging from the posted download statistics 
(http://www.netlib.org/utk/misc/counts.html) it is still widely used.  There 
is a history here waiting to be written.

I'm not sure what certification and remarks might mean if anything in 
today's open source world but the desirability of checks and balances on 
open source goes back to February of 1960.

Cheers, Scott