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The Vanishing Act of VA Linux Hardware Docs?

Posted by Cliff on from the look-ma-no-instructions dept.

Joshua Johnston asks: "Yesterday, my roommate and I picked up a used (and slightly abused) VA Linux 2231 2U server system at a computer show here in New Hampshire. Given the manufacturer, I had expected that support documentation would be a piece of cake to locate. Unfortunately, I couldn't have been any further away from the truth. Only the Internet Archive copies of the VA Linux/VA Software website had any information whatsoever on the system, with even Google striking out badly on almost any reference material. This comes as a complete surprise, as I had expected much more to be available in regards to a system once touted as a success for the Open Source movement. The current VA Software site has nothing even mentioning the fact they once made some solid server-class hardware, let alone a buried archive of the PDF manuals. What kind of options still remain for reviving some kind of community archive of these files? In the span of three years, are we left with nearly no trace of information on these machines?"

6 of 57 comments (clear)

  1. This isn't just a VA Software problem. by Mordant · · Score: 3, Insightful

    We're potentially just a few EMPs away from losing a lot of information that's increasingly being stored on the Web in lieue of hardcopy.

    Not being able to find server documentation is one thing; not being able to find, say, Planck's Constant is quite another.

    1. Re:This isn't just a VA Software problem. by zangdesign · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If, after a nuclear war, you spend your time hunting for Planck's Constant (or server documentation) instead of food or other means of survival, you deserve to be eaten by the Morlocks or the aliens or terrorists or George Bush or whoever started it.

      --
      To celebrate the occasion of my 1000th post, I will post no more forever on Slashdot. Goodbye.
  2. Tried calling? by thelexx · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Have you actually called the company and spoken with a person there about this?

    --
    "Gold still represents the ultimate form of payment in the world." - Alan Greenspan, 1999
  3. Always cache copies of useful web content by G4from128k · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Anytime I find a useful web page, I cache a copy on my local disk (strictly for personal/ time shifted use only). Personal sites have a way of disappearing when the owner loses interest and corporate sites have a tendency to flush old data when they reorg a site. Even with the cost of backups (I use 3 x 250 GB HDs for onsite/offsite backup), keeping a local copy costs a few tenths of a penny per MB.

    The loss of old content is sad, really. The web is sometimes more like the spoken word than the written word. It is ephemeral -- if you weren't there when the page was posted, you have a high chance of never getting it.

    --
    Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
  4. Political cuteness by nurb432 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    How nice, just had to toss in a ant-bush comment where has nothing to do with anything that is being discussed

    How sad to have such a small mind filled with such misguided hatred..

    You people are ill and need serious mental help.

    Ah.. mod me into oblivion, I don't care..

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    1. Re:Political cuteness by Eideewt · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You sound almost like you want to get eaten by George Bush.