File archives

Free file archives are really cool and really intriguing (the smaller, the better...we're not talking about shady torrent warez places) and I've considered having one. After all, I with the (old) finding of Macintosh Garden, then the local Project HOLD (which serves no interest to you unless you live in my area), then Retromags, and the latest finding of another Macintosh software archive. Or if you aren't really into that, there's other free (and educational!) files, too, like the New York Public Library's online digital archives. You can look through over 700,000 images: "historical maps, postcards, photographs, old restaurant menus, floor plans, advertisements, botanical prints, cigarette cards—from the library's collection". It's things like this that are separated from Google, and you should be aware of them (hey, that's an idea: "File Archive Awareness Day")

The problem with file archives is that first off, I donate what I can to certain sites: like that Macintosh Advocate CD I did months ago.

For everything else (exclusive), it's either not worth the time or subject to copyright. I may even get in a position where something is rare and the publisher wants it off, even if it's been years since it was on the market. At that point, your hard work is lost at the minimum.

Ideally, I'd like to have a huge file archive, hosting items from anywhere and everywhere: anything scannable in my house is going up there (okay, maybe not to that extreme). Things on my hard drive, book PDFs, lots and lots of software and ROMs, movies and TV shows, comic strips, magazine scans, music, and more would all be fair gain. Unfortunately, I'd be subject to lots and lots of cease-and-desist files, leaving my archive with not much at all.

Even if I manage to avoid cease-and-desist files, lawsuits, or angry people, there's still the significant problem of finding a host. Mediafire, Mega Upload, and its ilk are all shady places. Without a membership, you're a third-class citizen with slow speeds and limited uploading. And those places are not getting my credit card.

On the other hand, it's not like I was really going to be mass-dumping lots of obviously copyrighted materials or things I got somewhere else. It would be nice to add exclusive items not yet seen on TWR (or the rest of the Internet, for that matter) but I think it would take away from potential TWR traffic. It would also force people to actually read and discover instead of just rooting around for useful stuff. Even adding a file archive of things already seen on TWR would circumvent actual TWR posts. Or I could just add a post that leads to other TWR files...or you can just browse TWR!

I really haven't decided.

Comment Discussion: Do you have a file archive, or wish you had one?