23 Nov
2021
23 Nov
'21
6:06 p.m.
In fact, it's standard language in most DOD contracts that ALL materials
related to a contract must be destroyed at contract closure unless the
contractor receives specific permission from the gov't? to retain it -
usually for some specific reason such as a projected follow-on
contract.? When major contracts close, there is often a great cleaning
out of file cabinet and storage areas, done as quickly as possible
because it's all on company time rather than paid by uncle.
Steve
On 11/23/2021 10:21 AM, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote:
On 11/23/21 9:51 AM, Bill Gunshannon via cctalk
wrote:
doubt that a single line of that survives.
You would probably be wrong, it likely was
archived before
it stopped being used.? But that won't do you any good as
even if you could submit a FOIA request for it the cost of
recovering it would be prohibitive and they would not have
to honor it.? :-)
I don't think so--the project I had in mind was a military
project that
sunset some time in the late 1970s. Defense projects generally had a
fixed budget that did not include archiving after the project had
completed. That even extended to defense contractors. I recall a job
I did for LMSC where one person still had some 8" Future Data floppies
with software for a particular product. The set wasn't complete--but
there were no official company archives of the stuff. It wasn't just
the US Defense industry either; I've done similar stuff for, say, the
Israelis.
I think that, in the military mind, software belonging to a discontinued
classified project was deemed a potential security risk and destroyed.
A lot of my work involved retrieving stuff that had been put on tapes
years ago and just stashed in a warehouse with no description, other
than a tape inventory number. Someone got the job of cleaning out the
warehouse and thought the tapes might be worth looking at.
Just think of all of the stuff that hits the landfill from old timers
who have passed. The inheritors don't know what to do with the stuff
other than dispose of it.
We're very bad at hanging onto old information.
--Chuck