Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would love for a few banks to dump all their old COBOL code on to GitHub. Not because it would necessarily be useful for anything, but simply because it would be fascinating to read... There is actually very little open source COBOL code available, of the massive quantities of COBOL code written over the decades the vast, vast majority of it remains closed source. Sadly I think a lot of it is just going to be lost…
For a probably extreme but real example, I think I would prefer my Grandfather's specific duties with the Atomic Energy Commission in the 1940s not be released. I don't even like talking about what kind of scientist he was in some crowds.
Is your preference that they never be released, or not released in your lifetime? How would you feel about them being released a thousand years from now?