On Feb 26, 7:01=A0am, apple2fr...{at}gmail.com wrote:
> On Feb 26, 7:05=A0pm, schmidtd  wrote:
>
> > On Feb 26, 5:34=A0am, apple2fr...{at}gmail.com wrote:> If anyone has any p=
ointers to online sources, they would be much
> > > appreciated.
>
> > Google isn't always our friend, it turns out. =A0But in this case, it
> > is:http://www.google.com/search?q=3Dapple+ii+software
>
> Heh.
>
> I've been through the first 100 or so links on Google some time back.
> Little more than public domain software to be found there.
>
> I was hoping to locate private bit torrent trackers, private ftp
> sites, private boards with rapidshare links to hard-to-find Apple II
> software, etc.
>
> I've done an exhaustive search on tracker aggregators like isohunt,
> fileshunt, etc. and come up mostly empty. =A0I did run across the
> pleasuredrome tracker, but they focus on retro gaming and don't have
> much in the way of application software.

If you examine Asimov more closely, you'll find quite a lot of
commercial software, including productivity and programming
applications.  Public domain software is only a fraction of what
exists on that site.  I myself have uploaded several commercial titles
to it over the last few years.

The general rule with Apple II software, as far as I can tell, is that
we want it to be as widely and publicly available as possible, in the
interest of preservation - unless someone is actively claiming rights/
ownership and lets us know about it.  Since the platform's commercial
viability today is next to nonexistent, this is almost never a
problem, which allows places like Asimov to thrive.  Apple II software
doesn't "hide out" in places like Rapidshare, BitTorrent trackers, or
exclusive-access sites, because there's simply no need for it to.

The only "private" collections are real-world physical media, in the
attics and closets of folks who have yet to remember they're there;
sometimes they'll show up on eBay, and I only hope that they're going
to people with a preservational motive.
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