[rescue] DYNIX/ptx Version 4.x Media

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 @ 12:46 -0500, Sandwich Maker said:

> " From: "Ethan O'Toole" <ethan at 757tech.net>
> " 
> " > The thing is it that it's probably legally questionable, even though you
> " > wouldn't be able to buy the stuff anymore.
> " > []
> " > Chris
> " 
> " Yea, it would be legally questionable.
> " []
> " 
> " People will most likely only cry if money is being lost.
> " _______________________________________________
> 
> does sequent or any successor company exist, to have inherited
> ownership of the ip?  if not, who'd to sue?

Here is my take on all this:

We need to preserve software and data, and I think the need for this
supercedes any kind of long time "intellectual property rights".

Unfortunately, there are people who actively work against preservation,
even if it means permanent loss of historical record and useful things.

Some of it I can even understand, given the messed up way we handle
information.

I've seen a lot of software and data disappear over the years because
the owners held onto it and let it die with them rather than allow it to
be saved and shared. Some of it is insane, like refusing to release game
software that is no longer marketed, and that sort of thing.

I know a lot of people maintain archives and keep it (mostly) private,
saving it because they believe it needs to be saved.

It seems like we should be able to create some kind of double-blind
archive network, where we can verify that certain things are archived,
but without giving away the exactly locations of the archived materials.

The idea is to hang onto it until either the IP rights expire, or people
gain a little bit more sense.

Of course, a lot of people maintain public archives even against the
law, and often the industry just turns a blind eye toward it. Still,
there are some people who actively work to destroy archives, and we
should have a response to that I think.

I know... few of us who care have the time to do it, but its still worth
talking about. Maybe there already is something like this out there, and
someone here will know about it.

At the least, maybe Bill could publish a list of known archives on
sunhelp.org, and we could help those out when possible.

Bill's idea for gathering photos of Sun hardware, for example, is a good
one.  It's a bitch to take a machine to a photo shoot, but a great way
to preserve knowledge.

One of my side projects for the next year is to gather enough supplies
to have a "portable white room" for photographing things like computer
equipment. The main stumbling block is good lighting, which is
expensive, but it makes photos of equipment a hell of a lot better than
using flash or room lighting.




-- 
shannon "AT" widomaker.com -- ["The trade of governing has always been
monopolized by the most ignorant and the most rascally individuals of
mankind.  -- Thomas Paine"]