Share - the first ever open source repository

In 1955, a group of users of scientific applications for IBM 701 computers was formed. This group worked on a voluntary basis, and was called SHARE . Over time, this organization began to develop, and eventually turned into a forum where various technical issues related to programming languages, operating systems, databases, etc. were discussed. But their main resource was undoubtedly the source code library. Initially, IBM released its open source operating system, and many system programmers modified existing functions or added new ones, and then shared their knowledge with the community. In addition, the SHARE library contained pieces of code suitable for reuse — implementations of sorting algorithms, various mathematical functions, and programming tools such as debuggers. The one who wrote the program in which the implementation of a certain general algorithm was required first tried to find it in the SHARE library.
The quality of the code contained in the library was quite high, although no one controlled it. The names of the authors of the code were known, so the programmers did everything to ensure that the code sent to the library did not contain errors. Programmers who shared really high-quality programs or functions with the community had a chance to become famous, but not to get rich - in those years the cost of software was not expressed in money, since programs were supplied free of charge with hardware.
SHARE still exists as a non-profit organization, located in Chicago and publishes a newsletter, and also conducts educational seminars. In addition, the archive is available on the Internet library SHARE.