Emulation in the Middle Ages: Mainframes and Minicomputers
LCM+L’s project will expand the software preservation discussion into the Middle Ages of computing. One of our institutional goals is preserving and sharing our digital heritage. This project is a pilot, and will be expanded to other emulations of vintage operating systems and software. In order support emulation in the Middle Ages of Computing, LCM+L will expand current metadata workflows to include best practices for automated EaaS functionality, and test compatability of EaaS with internally-produced emulators: ContrAlto Alto emulator, DPS-8/M MULTICS emulator, simlac Imlac PDS-1 emulator, and the upcoming Xerox Star emulator. The LCM+L project team will produce web pages, quick start guides, and other documentation to help users explore emulations of these operating systems and related software. This project will contribute to the FCoP cohort and the software preservation community at-large through careful documentation of challenges, findings, outcomes, and recommendations.