The recent discussions about unsupported software led me to think about
old O/Ss in general. It seems that possibly one of the reasons that
companies are not releasing them is due to the amount of work involved
in contacting all the other groups who licensed bits to the software
(e.g. AT&T for UNIX) (I have no idea how these agreements were set up,
so it might not be an issue, but . . .)
Anyway, to the point- perhaps if some group were able to decide on a
list of systems they really want to see available, and secure the
permission of other interested parties, then we could see some of these
older software available for free to hobbyest users (stuff like
DOMAIN/OS/Aegis, older MCA AIX, IRIX). I know that in some cases (PERQ
et al.) it will be difficult to figure out who to contact, but some we
could just read of the copyright screen.
Enough drivel, dumb idea or not?
-Scott Quinn
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