> Or not. How long has it been since MVS/XA went to the museum? Or > CICS/OS/VS? Or ?????? > > To be "above board", I doubt you'd be able to run anything as a "new > installation" on the MP3000 that you can't run on Hercules "legally". > > Like many large bureaucracies, IBM probably has a cadre of "attic minders" > whose sole occupation is to ensure that nobody retrieves anything without > first presenting "proper credentials".
The idea is to save the software first, then deal with the legalities. And by save, often the best thing to do is to do "nothing". Don't pitch those tapes - just set them aside in a safe place. While it is well within IBM's right to shut down a hobbyist or museum from running something old without a license - I can not think of even one instance where they have. The same is true for most of the other mini and mainframe vendors. And they know that stuff is being run without their permission. And never say never. Just this year, one major manufacturer finally let their whole library of software for a dead architecture go non-commercial, after one brave soul bugged them for nine years. Was doing so in their best interest? No, of course not. But it was not really damaging either. Remember folks - if the software is not saved, it is gone for good. -- Will ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
