[private] RE: Hardware Hobbyists vs. Emulator Enthusiasts vs Replica Recreators

Hi, Al, With regard to your first point below, are you familiar with the eBay auction (270412475150) for a 1975 DEC-20 Marketing Guide? We're considering bidding on it, but if you are interested, we'll hold off. This is a "private listing", by the way, so no one can tell who else is bidding, even by eBay's encoded indicators. Thanks, Rich -----Original Message----- From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Al Kossow Sent: Saturday, June 20, 2009 12:59 PM To: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: Hardware Hobbyists vs. Emulator Enthusiasts vs Replica Recreators Ray Arachelian wrote: Collecting how the machines were used, and who used them. Also the history of companies that produced them and the development process. Historians seem to be more interested in the social aspects of computing, as opposed to the nuts and bolts of how they worked that collectors concentrate on. There have been historians that question why anyone would bother collecting software at all, for example. I was asked recently by someone concerning archiving software what use people could make of software if the binaries and sources were made available for non-commercial use. Beyond intellectual research/curiosity, I was having some trouble doing so given the constraint of it being for non-commercial use. What would you do if the agreement with the software's owner is that it has to be "frozen in amber", ie. you have to agree not to make changes/improvements to it even though you have the sources?