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Al Lowe reveals his Sierra source code collection

arstechnica.com

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Re: Al Lowe reveals his Sierra source code collection

#81

Post by [deleted] »

diggernet wrote: post #77
rixrax wrote: post #68

Al Lowe, if you're reading, I am humbly asking you to consider putting all the source code you have for Sierra etc. games up to GitHub for all of us to {gaze|look|worship...}. Let the collectors have the pleasure of having it all on the original physical medias, but let the rest of us mere mortals have access to the essence. Edit: alas, it's pointed out that above may not be possible as IP is owned by someone else. T…

If he can't give the source away on github because he doesn't own the IP, then he can't sell it either. But he is.

[deleted]

Re: Al Lowe reveals his Sierra source code collection

#82

Post by mschaef »

TheDong wrote: post #10
st3fan wrote: post #5

Should have just donated it to archive.org instead of making a quick buck out of it.

Unfortunately, it's still copyrighted and so cannot be legally displayed or distributed by the internet archive for another ~65 years (95 years from publication for copyright to expire). Many of us won't be alive to see this code legally. The copyright period could also increase again if the law retroactively increases it again.

> Many of us won't be alive to see this code legally.

Dunno about you, but for me, it's hard to imagine an 85 year old in the year 2083 even caring about seeing this code legally.

Re: Al Lowe reveals his Sierra source code collection

#84

Post by djmips »

DonHopkins wrote: post #27

How perfect: he used Elephant Memory Systems floppy disks -- they never forget! https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/s-l16... I loved my Elephant t-shirt! https://www.etsy.com/listing/603919849/vintage-80s-1981-elep...

This seems so odd to me since I remember when Elephant was the new cool kid on the block; cooler than Verbatim etc.

Re: Al Lowe reveals his Sierra source code collection

#85

Post by TheDong »

stormbrew wrote: post #51
TheDong wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If a copyright owner dies (without their IP being inherited) or the company dies (and its ip is not sold or kept by some individual of the company), then the material effectively enters the public domain. Note, this is only 'effectively' because it is still possible someone does have the IP and you were simply not aware. It's also possible the person who owns the copyright isn't even aware they own it, but it can sti…

I mean, the government choose the term. So it actually is their fault if people don't live to see the end of the term, even if the human lifespan itself is not their fault.

> I mean, the government choose the term

I think it's also fair to say that Disney has chosen the term and the government has failed to do its job.

The last bit of my comment was meant to be tongue-in-cheek.

Re: Al Lowe reveals his Sierra source code collection

#86

Post by reaperducer »

djmips wrote: post #84
DonHopkins wrote: post #27

How perfect: he used Elephant Memory Systems floppy disks -- they never forget! https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/s-l16... I loved my Elephant t-shirt! https://www.etsy.com/listing/603919849/vintage-80s-1981-elep...

This seems so odd to me since I remember when Elephant was the new cool kid on the block; cooler than Verbatim etc.

We were a BASF/3M house. And they were $5 a pop. If you could find a place that sold floppy disks at all.

FAO Schwartz to the rescue!

Re: Al Lowe reveals his Sierra source code collection

#87

Post by rtpg »

code_duck wrote: post #42
djsumdog wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea that's what confuses me. Is he even legally allowed to sell this stuff? Should he even still have that stuff?! This gets into sketchy legal ground. I wish he had contacted the German company he claims currently owns the rights and just asked if he could post it all up for free. It's not like it's going to hurt sales on platforms like GoG if they still have it up. He's already gotten some of the rights back for LS…

It’s like selling a copy of a book that you own. Unless you signed some sort of confidentiality agreement, there’s nothing that prohibits you from transferring the physical copy to someone else.

I'm gonna take a guess that technically these disks were bought with Sierra money and aren't his except for the fact that they were lost to time from company inventory perspective

Re: Al Lowe reveals his Sierra source code collection

#90

Post by marcins »

fallous wrote: post #88
rags2riches wrote: post #83

Looks like the 3.5" floppies have had the hole punch treatment to increase capacity! That wasn't always great for reliability as I remember it...

Um, hole punching was used on 5 1/4" and 8" floppies, not 3.5".

I guess, because technically most people used a drill for 3.5” disks.
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