Post on 14-Apr-2017
Mr Nathan Wade Lanier Technical College Oakwood, Georgia
Georgia Technical College of the year - 2014 .The home of both the 2014 and 2015 Technical College Teacher of the Year.
Emulation - Rescuing and Preserving Old SoftwareSAVE OUR DIGITAL HERITAGE!
Why preserve?• Preserve historical software from volatile storage and neglect
• Analog Tape storage• Audio dropouts
• Diskettes• “Bit-rot”• Dust
• Punch cards and tape
• Revive old programs and games on systems no longer supported on either actual systems or emulators
• Programmers can learn code and make new homebrew programs for old systems
• Sometime old hardware is rare and hard to find in good condition
Who is• The Old School Emulation Center (TOSEC) is an
organization that is dedicated preserving and cataloging hardware, software, and firmware images for microcomputers and game consoles.• Database includes:• ROMs and firmware images• Software from different types of media• Manuals and magazines
Internet Archive Software CollectionThe Internet Archive Software Collection is the largest vintage and historical software library in the world.It provides instant access to millions of programs, CD-ROM images, documentation and multimedia. Software
Shareware CDs, playable computer games, TOSEC files Magazines (in Text section)
Family Computer, Byte, Creative Computing Magazine Cover Discs
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
An exemption is granted to the Internet Archive by the D.M.C.A for archival software. This software is free for the public to download. (http://archive.org/about/dmca.php)
Two types of emulatorsSTAND ALONE MESS
• Multiple OS’
• Dedicated to one system
• May not be up to date or abandoned
• Multiple systems in one program
• Up to date
• Not all working
What is an “emulator”?A program that acts like a particular system that will run program images for that system.
DOSBox
• Emulates x86 computer• Used mainly to play DOS-
based games• Can run Windows up to
3.11, WordPerfect, and other applications
D-Fend Reloaded - DOSBox-Frontend Reloaded
• An open source frontend for DOSBox, ScummVM and Windows games
ME SSultimulatoruperystem
• Emulates computer systems and game consoles back to the late 60’s
Daphne
• Laserdisc Arcade Emulator• Will legally load commercial
versions of Dragon’s Lair, Dragon’s Lair 2, Space Ace, and Thayer’s Quest from Digital Leasure.
Legal Hurdles• Downloading emulators is legal • Roms and software programs may not be legal to download
• This depends on the author or company
• Shareware and legally purchased software remain legal
• Copyright red-tape – hard to find who owns the copyright on ancient software• Commercial software unsupported but still owned by a viable company
• Sierra On-Line• Apple
• Commercial software owned by a company no longer in business• Interplay• Radio Shack
• Software with license keys/dongles/DRM
Further reading and links…• The Ex-files: how long will our software last?
• http://www.blog.still-water.net/2013/05/the-ex-files-how-long-will-our-software-last/
• Preserving.exe: Toward a National Strategy for Preserving Software• http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/meetings/preservingsoftware2013.html
• Preserving.exe: A Short List of Readings on Software Preservation• http://blogs.loc.gov/digitalpreservation/2012/11/preserving-exe-a-short-list-
of-readings-on-software-preservation/
• The Geeks Who Saved Prince of Persia’s Source Code From Digital Death• http://www.wired.com/2012/04/prince-of-persia-source-code/
• Abandonware FAQ• http://www.abandonwarering.com/?Page=FAQ
• Why Preserving Old Computer Games is Surprisingly Difficult• http://mentalfloss.com/article/68930/why-preserving-old-computer-games-surprisingly-
difficult
• How to use DOSBox to run Dos Games and Old Apps• http://www.howtogeek.com/104725/how-to-use-dosbox-to-run-dos-games-and-old-app
s/
• Installing Windows 3.1 in DosBox• http://www.howtogeek.com/230359/how-to-install-windows-3.1-in-dosbox-set-up-drive
rs-and-play-16-bit-games/
• Computer History Museum Makes Electronic Arts DeluxePaint Source Code Available to the Public• http://www.marketwatch.com/story/computer-history-museum-makes-electronic-arts-d
eluxepaint-source-code-available-to-the-public-2015-07-22
• Copyright Law Is Eating Away At Our Cultural History: And It's Time To Fix That• https
://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150129/06091629847/copyright-law-is-eating-away-our-cultural-history-its-time-to-fix-that.shtml
• An Exemption to the DMCA Would Let Game Fans Keep Abandoned Games Running• https://www.eff.org/let-game-fans-keep-abandoned-games-running
• Old-Computers.com• https://www.facebook.com/oldcomputers
• DosBox• http://www.dosbox.com/
• TRS-80 Color Computer Archive• http://www.colorcomputerarchive.com/