The precarious state of classic software and hardware preservation

[Chris Zach]

On 11/20/2021 10:47 AM, Bill Degnan via cctalk wrote:
> All of the riches in the world did not prevent (and may have actually
> caused) the dilemma the LCM is in now.  I am sure a lot of it will be saved
> and probably most will be preserved but not all.  And that's basically how
> it is, history fades away, even the big things.  It takes a lot of
> foresight and teaching the young folks about the importance of learning
> from the past.

One of these days I really need to write down the whole history of 
AI.AI.MIT.EDU, MC, LSD, and how I had to rescue it not once, twice, but 
three times from loading docks where it would have been put in the 
trash. Each time I had to show up with a U-Hack to rescue it and find 
another home where it would be "saved forever"....

That's why I wonder about it at LCM: I would so not be surprised if I 
got a call from a trash company saying "Hey, we found this note in a 
large pile of metal crap, can you be here in 12 hours so we don't have 
to drag this thing to the dump? We're lazy and would appreciate the 
beers more"

But what happens when I am dead? I can't be the guardian of that thing 
forever....

CZ