"I love bitsavers.org"

2022-05-12 18:54:13

bitsavers.orgBitsavers'Software ArchiveComputing ArchiveCommunications ArchiveComponents ArchiveMagazine ArchiveTest Equipment Archive2022-04-26People are downloading the ENTIRE site through the web interface which is INCREDIBLY INEFFICENT!USE ANONYMOUS RSYNC.. That's what it's there for!As of Apr, 2022 there are over 143000 files including over 7 million text pages in the archive.Bitsavers Updates RSSRSS feeds for bitsavers updates are availablebitscommunicationscomponentsmagazinespdftest_equipmentTwitter bitsavers' twitter feedActive MirrorsWebbitsavers.computerhistory.orgbitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.debitsavers.trailing-edge.comwww.bighole.nl This appears to be updated on Mondays and isn't using rsyncUniversity of Kentftpmirror.your.orgFTPbitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.deUniversity of Kentftpmirror.your.orgRSYNCftpmirror.your.orgrsync is the preferred method for cloning and syncing with the archive.This site has no javascript, data bases or any of that Web 2.0 stuffYou can clone the entire archive withrsync -av rsync://bitsavers.org:/bitsavers/ bitsavers/As of Apr, 2022, the entire archive is around 825gbIf you are syncing, be warned that file names, dates andtheir location in the hierarchy change (these aren't permalinks)Archive IndexingAn index file is maintained at the top level of each category heirarchyIndexByDate.txt is updated each time an indexed document is added to the archive.These files are what drives the rss feedsSnapshots/MirrorsJul 2004 shapshot of pdp-11.trailing-edge.comJan 2005 shapshot of simh.trailing-edge.comJun 2012 snapshot of simh.trailing-edge.com scans from the University of QueenslandThe PDF Document FormatDocuments here are kept in a minimal subset of PDF format, just using it as a container for lossless Group 4 fax compression (ITU-T recommendation T.6) images.Contributions are normally post-processed by tools to put them in exactly this format.Documents were scanned using a Ricoh IS520 400dpi 30ppm B&W duplex production scannerfrom the late 90's through 2007.Conversion to higher performance Kodak DS 2500D scanning occured in July, 2007.The 2500D is an OEM version of the Panasonic KV-S2055 scanner.In 2008, the Kodak was replaced by a Panasonic KV-S3065W, whichis capable of duplex color 600dpi scanning, and has the capability to scansheets 100 inches long.Post-processing is done using Lemkesoft's Graphic ConverterTIFF to PDF conversion is done using Eric Smith's tumbleA final OCR step is done with Acrobat Pro.I've continued to use tumble since it is MUCH faster than Acrobat for tif to pdf conversion.The preferred form for any contributed text scan is as a collection of losslessGroup 4 fax compression (ITU-T recommendation T.6) images saved as TIFFfiles with a minium scan resolution of 400 dpi.Lower scan resolutions produce noticable artifacts if a page needs to bestraightened in post-processing.Lossy compression formats, such as JPEG, should NEVER be used to save pagesof text, since the compression format destroys edge resolution and contrastOCROCR has been part of the post-processing of scans for many years nowand is slowly being applied to older pdf files. It is a slow process andit will take many years to complete.Document Scanning StationTape processing over the yearsThese were taken in rooms that no longer exist at CHM, ca. 2006.The rooms were demolished when the Revolution exhibit was built.They were roughly where the gift shop and orientation theatre are now.You can see four XServe RAIDs which are still in use in 2021 with 2.5" 1tb Toshiba SATA drives and PATA/SATA adapters.Where does the source material come from?Most of the documents are from my personal collection that I have either boughtor been given over the course of many decades in the computer industry, or have beenloaned to me for scanning.I have a VERYlarge backlog of material to scan and don't actively sollicit material to work on.If I do decide to scan something from a donorI will return it if requested.Unless it is a very rare document I probablywon't accept something that requires manual scanning, since scanning time in myday is limited.I do not personally archive any paper that has been scanned.The scanning process I use is destructive. Bindings are removed and paper is recycled.Original documents that are still in good condition may be donated to the Computer History Museum for archiving, depending onif they are within CHM's collecting scope.The CHM running lot number for my donated documents isX6512.2012This project was started to downsize my collection of paper in the early 90's and continuesto be its primary purpose.and.. the site looks this way for a reason, to leave it static and easy to mirror, so don't remind me that it looks like it's from 1995at bitsavers dot org