New blog post: Magware

_posts/2017-07-09-magware.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: Magware
+date: 2017-07-09 22:00:00
+permalink: /blog/2017/07/09/
+---
+
+You may recall from my [last post](/blog/2017/07/03/) that I had tracked down some useful Modula-2 test code,
+originally published in [PC Tech Journal (October 1986)](http://www.pcjs.org/pubs/pc/magazines/pctj/PCTJ-1986-10/),
+inside a ZIP archive at "[THE PROGRAMMER'S CORNER: BBS ARCHIVE FROM THE PAST](https://www.pcorner.com/list/MAG)". 
+
+It turned out that that archive was a rabbit hole I could not *not* go down.
+
+First, I collected all the other PC Tech Journal ZIP archives there (from December 1985 through January 1989),
+recreated them as a set of [PC Tech Journal Disks](/disks/pcx86/shareware/pctj/), and added them to the
+[PCjs Disk Library](/disks/pcx86/), so now you can "Load" and "Save" them in any [PCjs Machine](devices/pcx86/machine/).
+
+Next, since I was also a fan of PC Magazine back in the day, I decided to do the same for all the PC Magazine ZIP
+archives.  So now there's a set of [PC Magazine Disks](/disks/pcx86/shareware/pcmag/) you can play with as well.
+
+I'm calling these disks *Magware* because I can't be sure exactly how to classify everything on them.  Most of it
+was probably considered free: source code was generally included without any restrictions.  But it's possible that
+the magazines also redistributed some third-party software that fell into more of a *Shareware* category.
+
+About these collections: I'm thrilled that they exist.  Not everyone needs to be (or should be) a collector, but the
+world needs at least a few dedicated individuals working in every domain (hardware, software, books, magazines,
+photographs, recordings, etc) along with museums and libraries to support their efforts.  So kudos to the folks
+at [The Programmer's Corner](https://www.pcorner.com) for saving what they could and continuing to make them available.
+
+Sadly, these collections are woefully incomplete.  The people who could have done the best job of archiving
+everything that PC Tech Journal and PC Magazine produced were the publishers themselves, but of course, we don't
+live in a society where "archiving" is part of the corporate compact.  Corporations care about assets and monetization.
+Even if an asset is never used and gradually disintegrates over time, your average corporation is fine with that,
+because the fact that no *other* corporation was able to use it is just another kind of monetization.  Some corporations
+do build their own archives, but you can never be sure they weren't edited in self-serving or promotional ways.  And
+other corporations are happy to see their old products archived, provided someone pays them for the privilege.
+
+I'm also a little sad to see these collections being leveraged as a way of making money.  For one thing, it goes
+against the spirit in which the software was originally shared (ie, for free).  For another, it's a real nuisance.
+
+For example, if you visit [MAG Files from The Programmer's Corner](https://www.pcorner.com/list/MAG), you can't
+simply download everything on that page.  You have to click on a link to a ZIP file, which takes you to a second page
+listing the contents of the ZIP file and a "Download File Here" link, which takes you to a third page with a tiny
+"Click here" link that will finally download the ZIP file.  And at every step of the way, you're also being asked
+to "Donate".
+
+So what should have been a quick ONE-click operation becomes a very slow THREE-click operation, giving you lots of
+opportunities to stare at lots of ads.  Three pages of them, with ads across the top, down the right-hand side, and
+across the bottom.  I understand that running a web server has a cost and that ads help defray that cost.  But there
+HAVE to be better ways to do this.
+
+For starters, there are users like me, who are happy to support the preservation efforts of others.  I opted to pay
+the requested $40 donation for "unlimited access" to The Programmer's Corner.  However, that merely allowed me download
+more than 5 files per hour.  I still had to slowly wade through endless pages of ads to get the roughly 200 files I was
+specifically interested in.  This isn't exactly endearing behavior, which means I probably won't return to The
+Programmer's Corner by choice, but only out of necessity.
+
+On a more philosophical note, I think it's important for a service to be clear about what we're paying for; ie, that
+we're paying for an archival service and that the money being generated for that service (whether by ads or donations)
+is purely in support of that service, and that the archived items themselves are not being held hostage ("ransomed") or
+used in any way that the original authors might have disapproved of.
+
+It shouldn't be hard to create a compelling website with useful features that people will *want* to revisit repeatedly.
+Even a site that's just a bunch of "downloads" should be able to avoid resorting to gimmicks if they at least have a
+mission, are actively working to promote that mission, and build a community of like-minded people who believe in that
+mission.
+
+The [Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/) model, where you try to get a handful of people to support your project with
+small monthly contributions, seems like one possible solution.  Of course, that usually requires working on the project
+on a regular basis, and if a website like [The Programmer's Corner](https://www.pcorner.com) is more or less on auto-pilot,
+that probably won't work.
+
+I've thought about this problem in the context of PCjs, and what, if anything, I could or should do to help pay for its
+monthly operating costs (which are currently around $30/month for hosting and bandwidth).  Ads are a horrible idea,
+because they're both unsightly and unseemly.  I've come to conclusion that you have to make money doing something else,
+and that projects like this just have to be supported by people's own personal obsessions, passions, and other intangibles.
+
+*[@jeffpar](http://twitter.com/jeffpar)*  
+*Jul 9, 2017*