Finally have the tapes on the way

Finally have the tapes on the way....

Adam Thornton

Jan 9, 2003

Sine Nomine Associates has 4 pallets of 9-track tapes heading towards
Houston in a truck now.

These 81 boxes of tapes are Princeton's tape archives from its
mainframe. Some of it may not be readable. Lots of it is useless.
Lots of it is licensed products we cannot distribute. And
some--including, alas, TSS/370 and CP/67--we will need to get IBM to
agree to *us*, in writing, that they are not copyrighted and therefore
distributable (yes, I know that since they predate MVS 3.8j, it ought
not to be an issue; nevertheless, we have made a decision, as corporate
policy, that we will get IBM's blessing in writing before we distribute
them). So it may be a while before we have anything to announce to the
list.

But I *did* want everyone to know that we have at least gotten the tapes
in transit to a location where they won't be accidently thrown away or
destroyed. Updates, at a hopefully less glacial pace, as they happen.

Also, if anyone in Houston has 9-track to cartridge conversion services
they can donate, that'd be great. We're investigating our options for
reading these tapes now.

Adam
--
adam@...
"My eyes say their prayers to her / Sailors ring her bell / Like a moth
mistakes a light bulb / For the moon and goes to hell." -- Tom Waits

9:41 am

Re: Finally have the tapes on the way....

Jay Maynard

Jan 9, 2003

On Thu, Jan 09, 2003 at 12:41:08PM -0500, Adam Thornton wrote:
> And some--including, alas, TSS/370 and CP/67--we will need to get IBM to
> agree to *us*, in writing, that they are not copyrighted and therefore
> distributable (yes, I know that since they predate MVS 3.8j, it ought
> not to be an issue; nevertheless, we have made a decision, as corporate
> policy, that we will get IBM's blessing in writing before we distribute
> them).

Argh. When I spoke to IBM about MVS 3.8j, they were unwilling to commit in
writing, even though their lawyers agreed that if it didn't contain a
copyright notice, it wasn't copyrighted. You may be waiting a very, very
long time. I would suggest you ask the intellectual property law folks in
Poughkeepsie this question. They were easy enough for me to find when I went
looking.

You're right, though: It's great that they'll be somewhere preserved,
instead of tossed out. Is the storage facility climate-controlled?

> Also, if anyone in Houston has 9-track to cartridge conversion services
> they can donate, that'd be great. We're investigating our options for
> reading these tapes now.

Shame this couldn't have happened sooner; I'd have carted my Hercules box
and 9-track drive over to your offices. I don't suppose I could have that
truck go to Fairmont instead? :-)

9:46 am

Re: [hercules-390] Finally have the tapes on the way....

Adam Thornton

Jan 9, 2003

On Thu, Jan 09, 2003 at 11:46:42AM -0600, Jay Maynard wrote:
> Argh. When I spoke to IBM about MVS 3.8j, they were unwilling to commit in
> writing, even though their lawyers agreed that if it didn't contain a
> copyright notice, it wasn't copyrighted. You may be waiting a very, very
> long time. I would suggest you ask the intellectual property law folks in
> Poughkeepsie this question. They were easy enough for me to find when I went
> looking.

I also figure David Boyes has a better shot than I do. I suspect TSS
might be easier than MVS to get released since, well, it's an
evolutionary dead end, not even a precursor to a currently-marketed
system.

> You're right, though: It's great that they'll be somewhere preserved,
> instead of tossed out. Is the storage facility climate-controlled?

I'm not sure; that much is a delicate negotiation between Dave and Karen
Jones. It will certainly not get the rain on it; I don't know if it
will be air-conditioned.

> > Also, if anyone in Houston has 9-track to cartridge conversion services
> > they can donate, that'd be great. We're investigating our options for
> > reading these tapes now.
>
> Shame this couldn't have happened sooner; I'd have carted my Hercules box
> and 9-track drive over to your offices. I don't suppose I could have that
> truck go to Fairmont instead? :-)

Alas, no.

Adam
--
adam@...
"My eyes say their prayers to her / Sailors ring her bell / Like a moth
mistakes a light bulb / For the moon and goes to hell." -- Tom Waits

10:13 am