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Updated "Adventures in Math" README

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Jeff Parsons 2017-06-15 09:09:35 -07:00 • committed by Jeff Parsons
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@ -193,14 +193,32 @@ which translates to:
b: [switch to drive B:] b: [switch to drive B:]
a:basica castle [run BASICA on drive A: and load CASTLE.BAS on drive B:] a:basica castle [run BASICA on drive A: and load CASTLE.BAS on drive B:]
This is the preferred way of "demo'ing" software with PCjs: loading unmodified disk images using the minimum This is one of the preferred methods of demonstrating software in PCjs: loading unmodified disk images into machines
"system requirements" and automatically performing the same series of commands that the original owner of that that match the system requirements as closely as possible, powering the machine, and then automatically executing
hardware and software would have performed. the same series of commands that an owner of that hardware and software combination might have executed.
An alternative approach, adopted by the Internet Archive, involves creating customized disk images and machine The other preferred method is to use a machine state file, which restores the machine to a state where the software is
configurations for each application. This offers some simplicity, because the software has been modified to work already running. This is the fastest approach, and it is useful when the software has an involved installation
in a common configuration, but it becomes difficult if not impossible to isolate the original software distribution process, but it takes more effort to set up. The [VisiCalc (1981)](/apps/pcx86/1981/visicalc/) demo operates this way,
or run it in other machine configurations. but it does so purely for convenience (and because it predates the "autoType" feature).
An alternative approach, adopted by the Internet Archive, involves modified disk images (eg, with custom batch files)
loaded into tightly coupled machine configurations. While this approach offers ease of use, it's difficult for the
user to download or inspect the software exactly as it was originally distributed, or to load the software into any
machine configuration other than the "mystery" configuration chosen by the Internet Archive.
The failure to archive software exactly as it was originally distributed, generally as one or more disk image (IMG)
files along with scanned (PDF) copies of the documentation, is the most serious problem we collectively face. I don't
blame the Internet Archive, because in most cases, they're simply archiving what someone else archived before them,
and those earlier "archivists" often didn't take the time to thoroughly preserve and document everything.
On the other hand, the Internet Archive could do a better job of cataloging its holdings, recording the provenance of
everything they have archived, maintaining a clear separation of original material from subsequent modifications (including
any modifications created solely for ease of emulation), and providing more control over machine configurations.
In addition, I would hope that anything the Internet Archive "archives" itself (ie, from original distribution media)
is duplicated and preserved according to a *much* higher standard than any files, documents, etc, it has simply scraped
from the Internet.
References References
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