More on manuals plus rescue

[tony duell]

> If you have some equipment surely it would reasonable to have the
> manuals for it.
> How the manuals are obtained is open to debate but  not if you have the
> right to own them.

I would agree (although doubtless lawyers wouldn't :-)).

A problem, though is when a service or technical manual was an optioanl accessory, which
had to be paid for separately. In that case it is going to be very hard to prove you had a right
to own it. And yet the manufacturers can no longer supply it, and you want to fix the <whatever>.

A case in point. I have a 1980s colour graphics terminal here. The user manual was supplied with it (and
I am pretty sure I have the original), the service manual was an option and I am pretty sure the previous
owners never had it. But of course I need the schematics, etc to sort out an EHT fault in it.

In this particular case there is no problem. It's a Tektronix and comes under (AFAIK) the agreement 
posted on bitsavers. And bitsavers had the 2 volumes of service manual available. So I do not feel
there is anything wrong in this case. But for other manufacturers it could be a problem.

-tony