19 Jun
2005
19 Jun
'05
11:01 a.m.
At 9:27 AM -0700 6/19/05, Al Kossow wrote:
I've been ranting for a while now that people are
saving the iron,
but not the software that ran on it. It's surprising how little is
Don't forget it's not just software, the people tend to toss the
manuals as well.
I'm starting to think that there is going to be a
pretty strange
view of computer software in the future, since there is so MUCH
that was saved from DEC, and almost nothing from Burroughs,
UNIVAC, NCR, and Honeywell (the last member of the BUNCH, CDC,
seems to have a fair amount saved, though)
How much of this though is due to availability of the systems, and
where they were actually used? Didn't the DEC systems tend to be
used in much more open environments where the software could get out?
I was lucky to have saved the GCOS-8 manuals I've got, there is
absolutely *NO WAY* I could have gotten copies of the software, even
if I'd have considered doing such a thing at the time. How many of
these systems (and everything that went with them) were on lease, and
as a result had to go back to the manufacturer for destruction?
Let's not forget that there are huge chunks of DEC software that is
lost or virtually lost. Who has Pre-V4 VAX/VMS? While it might seem
like there is a lot of PDP-10 software, in reality, most of it's
gone. The early PDP-11 OS's, as well as most Layered Products are
largely missing as well (of these RT-11 has best been archived). I
honestly don't know about the state of PDP-8 software, but I know
there are definitely holes. Other than those systems, most of the
PDP's have little or no software that has been archived.
Zane
--
--
| Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator |
| healyzh at aracnet.com (primary) | OpenVMS Enthusiast |
| | Classic Computer Collector |
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