The UNIX Heritage Society

[User Rdkeys Robert D. Keys]

> Preservation in teh case of PDP-11 (and otehr 16bit) was needed or it may 
> have been lost.  One assumes the license grantors actually have complete 
> sources.  In the case of at least on other OS they had the license but 
> little of the code.

This is a most interesting point, and one we all need to consider.

I will interpret from Allison's remarks that CP/M may be being referred
to here.  In that case, it was mostly all lost sources, and only a little
was found (and a lot of leftovers kept by the early hacker types).  It would
NOT have been possible to recreate or resurrect it without such help.

The one thing that I have noted in the 28 years I have played with computers
(only the last 20 seriously), is that sources tend to get very lost in the
passage of time.  Alas, if you try to recreate or resurrect the old early
boxes, you are lost without the tidbits of sources, binaries,  and OS notes
that seem to be all to vaporware, anymore.  So much of it is NOT kept around
by the companies.  And, many of the companies are bellyup, or have passed
through so many hands, that the original materials are long forgotten or
gone.

Somehow, we need to collectively keep enough of the bits and pieces so
that down the road, others may be able to see what it was actually all
about.  I heartily applaud the efforts of all the various groups like
the PUPS, and the efforts of folks like Warren and Kirk to keep the
unix flavors alive.
 
> The key here is there are two types of OSs, retired(not commercially 
> viable or no support) and those that have commercial value.  

I would expect that our collective interests center on the former,
even though some/many of us may dabble in it commercially/professionally.

Bob Keys


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