mainframes and other stuff

[Tothwolf]

On Fri, 21 Nov 2014, Mike Stein wrote:
> On Fri, 21 Nov 2014, Tothwolf wrote:
>
>> Was that /after/ they tried selling items piecemeal with all those eBay 
>> accounts they created? IMO those guys were -way- over their heads with 
>> the ill-gotten gear they took from Sellam. Greed plan and simple, from 
>> the landlord's imagined riches to the to the scrap company he convinced 
>> to take take it on. I for one hope that particular scrapper lost their 
>> ass once the final numbers rolled around.
>
> I don't get it.
>
> Sellam should have simply paid his rent instead of jerking his landlord 
> around for month after month with missed deadlines, broken promises, a 
> law suit etc.
>
> Period.

Maybe, just maybe, there was a whole lot more to it than that? Sellam no 
doubt made his share of mistakes, but his former landlord and the scrap 
dealer he contracted were absolutely in the wrong with what they did. 
Period. That landlord thought Sellam's gear was worth huge amounts of 
money, got greedy, and began looking for ways to take stuff for his own 
financial gain.

> Whether you call it 'greed' or just the landlord trying to collect the 
> back rent owed, we should thank them and the scrapper for the 
> opportunity to save some pretty rare equipment instead of just scrapping 
> it.

The amount of rent supposedly owed was far less than what the landlord 
thought he could collect when he sold much of Sellam's palletized gear to 
that scrapper.

In fact, that landlord would have never pulled that stunt had he not 
contacted that scrapper who in turn convinced him they could make a ton of 
money if they were to sell off Sellam's stuff.

> What did the folks who refused to buy any of it out of 'loyalty' to 
> Sellam accomplish other than ensuring that some worth while stuff did 
> end up being scrapped?

Do you know first hand if anything irreplaceable or of real value ended up 
scrapped?

I rather doubt avoiding those eBay listings made much difference in the 
larger scheme of things. While I tried to avoid any eBay listings that 
scrapper posted, there were plenty of other people who were more than 
happy to bid on those listings (including quite a few individuals who were 
also happy to publicly express hate towards Sellam on various computing 
forums because they were jealous of how he had acquired so much gear). The 
only thing avoiding those listings did was potentially cause them to sell 
for a lower amount than they -might- have otherwise.

If everyone refused to do business with people and companies like that 
scrapper, it would do a lot to discourage them or someone else like them 
from attempting to take advantage of others in the future. It is my choice 
to decide with whom I do business, and if I don't agree with how they act 
or do business, I don't have to do business with them. I also see it 
somewhat akin to being held hostage; ie. buy this stuff or else, and I'm 
not about to do business with someone like that.

> And how do the folks who donated items to Sellam's 'museum' in good 
> faith feel about him letting it end up on eBay and as scrap because of 
> his intransigence and refusal to ask the community to help save the 
> collection?

I had previously given some stuff to Sellam and I later saw some of it 
listed on eBay by that scrapper. Are you asking how I feel about that? If 
and when I feel Sellam has a stable facility again sometime in the future, 
I may very well decide to send him some more stuff.

I do think Sellam should have been more open and up front with the 
community regarding his financial problem and should have asked for help 
sooner. That said, I can understand why he didn't (pride) and even had he 
done so, how much help would he have actually gotten? [I once asked trying 
to find locals to help me pull stuff that was being dumpstered and got -0- 
response from anyone in the classiccmp community.]