If only there was a mechanism to persuade companies to allow such hobby
use of archaic software. It would be great if there was a standard
document, perhaps similar to that OpenVMS license, that would eliminate
the guilt from violating someone's copyright. "What's the harm" isn't
good enough for me. To me, preservation of the rights of the old software
is almost as important as the software itself. But it's not easy.
It may be impossible. You can get an old system from a dumpster
and if you're lucky you find floppies and the manuals.
Take an example from one of my pet projects, the Terak computer.
Terak was sold to CalComp, and CalComp was bought (or was always
owned) by McDonnell-Douglas. The last anyone saw of the Terak assets
was a semi driving from Scottsdale to New Hampshire. This Herculean
task now consists of finding someone within MD who has the time
and the good will to care, and who's been around long enough to
know what the heck I'm asking for.
Then I've got to persuade them to give me the right to, oh, copy some
fifteen-year-old floppies for someone without a legit copy, or to write
an emulator that uses the code and allow others to get a copy.
I've long heard that some varieties of dark-side hacking involve
Social Engineering that can open a door or shoulder-surf a password,
but I doubt it's powerful enough magic to persuade a defense contractor
to sign a paper to give you something for nothing.
- John
Jefferson Computer Museum <
http://www.threedee.com/jcm>
Received on Fri Feb 06 1998 - 09:17:30 GMT