[Coco] [Color Computer] My Vintage Computing Files Archive

[Brian Blake]

After looking this over, I've gotta say I'm not interested in access ing information from your server. I'm not interested due to the requirement of me having to open a port on my firewall to allow the KDX server access to my system (not to mention the KDX client asking to make the changes to my routher as well) just so I can view your server. I'll stick with FTP, torrent and IRC, none of which does my firewall have issues with.


Brian


----- Original Message ----
From: hex_gmail <hexstar at gmail.com>
To: ColorComputer at yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2007 11:40:31 PM
Subject: [Coco] [Color Computer] My Vintage Computing Files Archive


It is my belief that archives like this one should be provided without
any limitation to the end users ability to utilize the archive. These
archives are getting harder and harder to find and because of that we
all should do what we can to let those who want to mirror our archives
do so. As such I am now bringing this archive to the vintage computing
community. I have not and will not put any limitations on how users
can utilize the archive provided here. Users can freely download as
much or as little of the archive as they want. Users can also freely
contribute as much or as little to the archive as they want. This way
people will be able to mirror the archive easily which will help
ensure the files contained in this archive have a nice long life span.
This will also allow this archive to grow freely and become an ever
increasingly useful resource to fellow vintage computing hobbyists. It
is my hope that people will take advantage of the great disk space and
bandwidth provided here and both contribute to and download from this
archive. This will allow users to have a good solid place to go
whenever they are in need of a file for their vintage computing hobby.
With the resources provided here it is my hope that with others
contributions and utilization of this archive that this will become a
great resource for all vintage computer hobbyists. That's right, there
is no certain vintage computing era this archive is limited to (except
the 2000+ computers and their related files), as it is my hope that
this becomes a great central archive of everything vintage computing.
A resource that makes the vintage computing hobby easier and less
intimidating by not requiring hobbyists to go all over the internet
for the files they need. Hopefully someday this goal will be met for
the benefit of everyone who enjoys vintage computing as a hobby.
Enjoy! :-)



FAQ

Where are the files?

The files are hosted on a KDX server. This provides me with an easy to
administrate server and it provides everyone else with a nice, easy to
navigate, server with which you can download/upload files and chat. If
you don't know what KDX is click here for details on what KDX is and
how to use it as well as download links for the client. To connect
simply use kdxvcfa.dyndns.ws as the address, a username/password is
not necessary.

What about http/ftp access?

You can still access the archive via http by clicking here, however
note that the http copy of the archive will no longer be updated.
Instead it is highly recommended that you use KDX to enjoy the latest
additions to the archive. The same goes for ftp uploading, please
upload via the Uploads folder in KDX instead as the archive will now
continue to be maintained only via KDX.

Why the change to KDX?
Http access was great for a while. However, http access was being
donated and as such disk space was limited. The donated disk space is
now getting tight and as such I had to think of alternative methods of
keeping the archive online. The best way I could think of was to host
the archive myself since I have a bunch of HD's here which thus
provide plenty of disk space for the continued expansion of this
archive. I could easily have setup http access myself but I thought
that since I was doing the hosting myself I might as well use KDX.
Why? It's easier to administrate, the administration interface
provides many easy to utilize controls for what users can and can't
do. It has everything for the makings of a community, file browsing
for downloading/uploading, a chat room, private messaging support, and
a news section. In addition KDX is completely free and has clients for
all the best operating systems: Linux, Mac OS, and Windows so no
matter what OS you use you can still enjoy this archive. So now the
archive is being provided and maintained via KDX.

How can I contribute to the archive?

To contribute to the archive simply upload your files in the Uploads
folder

To expedite the sorting of uploads please do the following when
uploading files to the archive:

* Look for a folder corresponding to the type of computer your files
are related to (Apple, DEC, Commodore, etc)

* If one exists go in it and place it in the correct category sub
folder (e.g. Utilities, Multimedia, Office, etc)

* If the folder corresponding to the type of computer your files are
related to doesn't exist or the correct category subfolder doesn't
exist create it and place your files inside of the folder (if you
create a category subfolder for a category that doesn't exist publicly
and your files are determined to be able to be legally hostable, the
new category will be created publicly with your files inside of the
new category)

This will help speed up the sorting of the uploads by avoiding mess
and clutter as much as possible. Thanks! :-)

Uploaded files are not instantly made publicly available as it is
necessary to review the files for possible legal issues which could
prevent them from being able to be shared publicly on the server, the
upload folder is checked daily and any newly uploaded content that is
deemed legally sharable (e.g. abandonware and/or software which was
made by a company that no longer exists or still exists but has long
since abandoned the software and does not care if the software is
shared) will be sorted in the appropriate publicly accessible folders.



What era or type of vintage computer related files are allowed in this
archive?

There is no specific era or vintage computer that this archive is
restricted to as long as the file(s) don't relate to any computer made
in 2000+. It is my hope that this becomes a great central archive of
everything vintage computing. A resource that makes the vintage
computing hobby easier and less intimidating by not requiring
hobbyists to go all over the internet for the files they need.
Hopefully someday this goal will be met for the benefit of everyone
who enjoys vintage computing as a hobby.



Why should I contribute to/download from this archive?

This archive is unique in that it is maintained with the belief that
there should be no limitations in place for how one can utilize this
archive. This archive is hosted on a server with 200GB of disk space
and 2.8TB of monthly bandwidth, this ensures that everyone can enjoy
the archive equally. In addition this archive is hosted in a state of
the art data center in the USA, this means that the server has high
upload and download speeds, something not every vintage computing
archive has unfortunately. The high bandwidth and disk space available
for everyone's use ensures that everyone can equally enjoy this
archive with nice fast speeds both up and down. This in turn makes it
easy for people to download the files they need and for people to
contribute to this archive without spending a lot of time doing
either. In addition every file uploaded is backed up locally so that
if the hard drive in the server goes bad the files will not be gone
and can easily be reuploaded (and they would be as soon as the hard
drive got replaced). Not only that but because I encourage people to
mirror this archive you can rest assured that I will not be the only
person with a backup of this archive so that these files will have a
good, long life span.



Do you backup the archive?

Yes I sure do. Every time I check for new uploads I backup the
uploaded content locally onto two hard drives.


Can I download the entire archive?

Yes! You certainly can using something like wget. I do not believe in
limiting the potential of these types of archives as explained above
and as such there is nothing stopping you from downloading the entire
archive. In fact I encourage people to mirror this archive as it'll
help ensure that the files stay around longer. Also note that while we
won't stop people from downloading the whole archive for their own
personal use ( i.e. they have no intention of later sharing the
archive with others) it is preferred instead that in this case files
are downloaded individually as needed.



What can I do if I find one or more files that are wrongly categorized?

Please email me at hexstar at gmail.com with the location of the file(s)
in question and the location where you believe they should be moved to.



How can I contact you?

You can contact me at hexstar at gmail.com


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