[Coco] My Vintage Computing Files Archive

[Hex Star]

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 <http://www.haxial.com/products/kdx/> 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<http://vintage.tsfsc.com/the-archive/>,
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