Repository for Old Macintosh Software | Hacker News Reader

Repository for Old Macintosh Software

macintoshrepository.org

56 pointsthe_dripper26 comments

Note well that this is not a public archive: it is a paid subscription site.

This organization is profiting from the distribution of abandonware, which is unethical at best and illegal at worst.

They’ve also started big feuds with other people who mirror the abandonware. I don’t recall the details but you shouldn’t be giving them any money.

I'm not familiar with all of the details, but a lot of the people behind Macintosh Garden[1] believe that Macintosh Repository scraped their content directly. I suppose it's not like either of them owns the rights to this stuff, but it definitely feels scummy.

If you have anything to upload, please use Macintosh Garden. If you want to download something, I guess you could use Macintosh Repository instead, so you use up their bandwidth, but please don't give them any money!

I'm sure the submitter didn't know better, but I really wish Macintosh Garden was the site that got submitted...

1: https://macintoshgarden.org/

> It's not like anyone owns the copyright to this stuff

I would think the copyright still exists. Maybe the owner just isn’t aware of the infringement.

Oh, by "anyone" I meant, "any of the sites currently hosting this content". This should be clearer in my edit; sorry for the confusion.

What's unethical about distributing abandonware? I don't see any harm in finding use of something that would otherwise be wasted.

I believe GP is arguing it's unethical to charge money for distributing abandonware.

I have yet to encounter a paywall on that site. I don't know what you are talking about here. It looks like they are accepting donations for server costs, but I've confirmed that the downloads are free.

Does this site offer anything that macintoshgarden.org doesn't?

Not that I have seen. Macintosh Garden's repository is available for free on the Internet Archive[1]. MR requires an account registration and MG does not.

[1] https://archive.org/details/Macintosh_Garden_Collection

Macintosh Garden is available free on its own site, with browseable pages full of screenshots and descriptions of everything, too. http://macintoshgarden.org/

I didn't mean to imply MG didn't carry their own wares, bad wording on my part. Yes MG hosts their own content and is available on the Internet Archive.

Macintosh Repository hosts the same content but puts it behind a registration/paywall.

https://macgui.com/ has a lot that neither of those do. Plus the 512k blog is honestly invaluable.

There is some stuff that exists on either one or the other site, but it's mostly the same

Whats the current best way to emulate a OS 7 machine, and pass in files from a site like this?

Look up Basilisk or Sheepshaver. Main hits for those will tell you the rest of the details.

I've had the most luck with Mini vMac. Shoot me an email if you need a bootable image, I have one for System 6 and System 7.

Mini vMac is excellent, but I'm not sure it's the best for OS 7, because it can't emulate a color display.

I've got Mini vMac Color working with System 7.5, send me an email if you want it!

I used to get all my Mac software from an archive hosted at MIT. I can't remember the name now. Is there a mirror of it anywhere?

Hyperarchive, formerly of hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu.

I’m glad I read the comments. Thanks for the information/links to other repository and abandonware sources.

Year of release could use a from-to range selector.

Cool!

Any version of this for modern MacOS?

Apple and OEMs still care about modern MacOS apps and will issue takedown notices.

Abandon-ware is your best bet for the classic MacOS stuff.

Also some Mac stuff here along DOS and Windows stuff: http://vetusware.com/

Oh wow, I didn't realize you could download ISOs. I just thought the repository was listing the software and telling you about it.

Which is why I wondered at first upon reading your response? "What's the problem?" isn't it just sort like free advertising?

Macintosh Garden allows any uploads that have been abandoned for ten years or more, which seems like a reasonable timeframe. They have a lot of stuff for PPC OS X, and even some very early Intel apps.

What they sadly don't have is a good way to sort between Classic and OS X...

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