What was going on when I was born?

Large companies, which buy everything from yellow pads to computers by the truckload, are tired of buying programs for their personal computers in twos and threes at near retail prices. In an effort to win volume discounts and gain more convenient purchasing arrangements, they are forcing major changes in the distribution of computer software. The companies, which might order hundreds of a particular program, such as Lotus's 1-2-3, are turning more to specialized mail order operations and to a new breed of company that supplies software in large volumes at discount prices. The large corporations are also, in some cases, forcing software producers to sell to them directly, which software companies had been reluctant to do for fear of offending the computer stores. Virtually all major software companies, including the leaders, the Lotus Development Corporation and the Microsoft Corporation, are now seeking ways to appease major corporate customers. Plans range from simple volume discounts to more comprehensive programs known as site licensing, which gives the corporate customer the right, for a specified fee, to copy and distribute copies of a program within the company.

A South African judge today ordered the police in Port Elizabeth to refrain from assaulting detainees held under the country's state-of-emergency decree. The decision represented the first judicial acknowledgement of police brutality and a victory for a 25-year-old district surgeon, Wendy Orr, who had campaigned against what she called systematic assaults on prisoners by the police. The developments also represented the most comprehensive indictment of police brutality since the declaration of a state of emergency in 36 districts on July 21. It offered a picture of unseen violence in police cells that complements that of the more public bloodshed of the nation's black townships during what has become a black uprising against white minority rule.

A picture caption yesterday with an article about the United Nations misidentified one speaker. He was Jacques Poos, Foreign Minister of Luxembourg, not Geoffrey Palmer, Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand.

The General Foods Corporation, moving swiftly after getting a long-expected takeover bid said to be from the Philip Morris Companies, has invited some of the wealthiest concerns in the world to join in a secret bidding contest, insiders said yesterday. Bidding is expected to start at well over $5 billion with only a handful of companies rich enough to take part. Insiders said that Unilever N.V., the giant Dutch-British consumer products company, was among the first to be invited. Preliminary talks between General Foods and Unilever senior executives have already begun, insiders said. Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Company, the New York investment house that specializes in taking companies private, was also asked to make a bid. Discussions with Kohlberg, Kravis are expected to start immediately, to be followed in quick succession by others as they are lined up.

France and Japan are the main targets of a new policy the United States is preparing to fight what it is calling predatory export practices of foreign governments, Administration officials said today. Discussing how the policy might be applied, one official offered the example of a French-speaking African country that decides to build a bridge or a power station and is looking for industrial country suppliers. Because of their linguistic and cultural ties, French exporters traditionally get the lion's share of such business. But now the United States Government will reach into its pockets to offer such easy credit terms, if an American supplier is selected, that the African Government would have a hard time refusing.

Striking minimal shapes, a more serious emphasis on function and flexibility and a strong dose of fantasy were the main directions at the 25th Salone del Mobile Italiano. The furniture fair, which opened Sept. 18 for a seven-day run, was combined with the lighting show Euroluce. Manufacturers, designers and buyers who visited the huge event found plenty of new products: chairs with slim backs, thin frames and long tapered legs, lamps of almost infinite adjustability, beds on wheels and versatile chaises that seemed to promise everything except morning coffee. Many well-established Italian architects and designers, such as Enzo Mari and Sergio Asti, made strong return engagements. The consensus was that of a sober and businesslike show. ''A very good fair and a serious buying one,'' said Priscilla Carluccio, the director of product development for Habitat, Heals and the Conran Shop, in Britain.

The Reagan Administration will seek changes in Federal bilingual education programs to give local school districts more flexibility in choosing teaching methods and to emphasize fluency in English rather than knowledge of students' native languages and culture, according to Education Secretary William J. Bennett. In a speech he is to deliver at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel this morning, Mr. Bennett charges that over the last two decades Federal policies toward bilingual education have become ''confused as to purpose and overbearing as to means.'' Seeking Local Autonomy ''After $1.7 billion of Federal funding, we have no evidence that the children whom we sought to help - that the children who deserve our help - have benefited,'' he says in his prepared text, a copy of which was obtained from Education Department sources by The New York Times. Mr. Bennett says the Department of Education, which is drafting regulations to carry out last year's renewal of the Bilingual Education Act of 1968, will use these regulations as a vehicle for putting the new ideas into effect. In addition, he says the department will ''explore with Congress'' the possibility of new legislation to allow school districts virtually complete autonomy in deciding how to teach students who are not fluent in English.

An article in some copies yesterday on Chantal de Kemoularia, the wife of the chief French delegate to the United Nations, alluded incorrectly to the nationality of Karl Marx. He was German.

A report in New York Day by Day yesterday about a privately maintained garden on the Lower East Side called the Garden of Eden incorrectly described the extent of its demolition. Most of the wall surrounding the garden was razed, but not the plantings. They are to be removed before the city builds housing there.

International A 4 1/2-hour American-Soviet talk apparently failed to narrow the gap between the two countries on arms control issues. After the meeting with Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze, Secretary of State George P. Shultz said that despite speculation that a new Soviet plan might be unveiled yesterday ''there were no particular new proposals put on the table.''[Page A1, Column 6] The Pentagon disputed a warning by a new Congressional study that the program to develop an antimissile defense system might increase the risk of nuclear war.[A1:6] Latin America's leading debtor nations, worried by the political perils of their continuing financial crisis, are beginning to balk at carrying out austerity programs urged by the International Monetary Fund.[A1:4-5] A South African judge ordered the police in Port Elizabeth to refrain from assaulting detainees held under the country's state-of-emergency decree. The decision represented the first judicial acknowledgement of police brutality and a victory for a 25-year-old surgeon, Wendy Orr, who had campaigned against what she called systematic assaults on prisoners by the police.[A1:3] Rescue workers are still finding a trickle of survivors in the mountains of snapped steel girders, concrete slabs, crushed brick and rubble that dot Mexico City nearly one week after two major earthquakes. As many as 800 people are believed buried in the collapsed section of Mexico's largest hospital. Early yesterday one infant was found alive.[A10:1-4] Palestinian gunmen in Larnaca, Cyprus, stormed a small private yacht moored in the marina of the bustling tourist port and killed three Israelis aboard it in the course of a seige that lasted nearly 10 hours.

Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Stockard Channing and Richard Masur were in the kitchen of 15 Garden Place in Brooklyn Heights, attending a cinematic dinner party. A caravan of vans and trucks was parked outside, with thick wires snaked along the sidewalk. Orange traffic cones banned residents' parking. Coffee and doughnuts were being served amid the brownstone stoops and maple, birch and pear trees. Two officers from the Police Department's movie and television unit patrolled on foot. Residents of the block carried their briefcases past men and women wielding cameras, grips and walkie-talkies. Others hung out of their windows, gawking.

Companies General Foods has invited secret takeover bids from some of the world's wealthiest companies, insiders said. Bidding is expected to start at well over $5 billion. Philip Morris, Unilever and Kohlberg, Kravis have been or will be invited to make bids, they said. The company's stock rose $5.25, to $106.75. [Page D1.] Major steel mills followed U.S. Steel's price increases, but analysts said the prices may not stick. [D1.]