[LINK] Link Archive backup service

[Roger Clarke]

At 10:02 +0000 2/12/12, stephen at melbpc.org.au wrote:
>  ... our existing Archive isn't infallible
>and one remembers the great crash of 1994, whereby all archives were
>lost, causing much anguish. ...

I have 347 messages in my archive from the link list, dated 7 Dec 
1993 until just before the first that appears in the archives at 
http://mailman.anu.edu.au/pipermail/link/1995-February/date.html.

They're in a Eudora (v.6.2.4) mailbox - which is maybe *not* mbox format.

___________________

The oldest is *not* the announcement of the launch of the list (which 
surprises me), but instead is this one:

Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1993 16:41:11 +1100
From: Geoff Huston <G.Huston at aarnet.edu.au>
To: link at wombat.anu.edu.au, e.wainwright at nla.gov.au
Subject: Re: National Networked Applications Strategy
Cc: tony at info.anu.edu.au

Eric,

Thanks for your note

>1.     Public access to electronic information/community networking
>        - At national level
>                - Get selected journalists informed and fed with Internet
>                  materials/stories

evidently the Internet is a cover story in this week's Time magazine!

geoff

___________________

And the tradition of MS-bashing goes back a long way:

Date: Fri, 4 Feb 94 10:45:42 EST
To: link at wombat.anu.edu.au
From: Roger.Clarke at anu.edu.au (Roger Clarke)
Subject: Bill Gates

The SMH reported this morning that Bill Gates will today tell Paul Keating
what a tremendously important thing an NII is.

Should someone be planning a media stunt to capitalise upon the opportunity
...  sorry, I mean be planning a media campaign to inform the journalists
what on earth an NII is, and thereby ensure that (a) the debate starts and
(b) the debate avoids immediate capture by interested parties like IBM,
Telecom, Microsoft ...

Roger

________________________________

And this isn't quite Prof. Klerphell, but then I'm not quite Tom W.:

Date: Fri, 4 Feb 94 14:13:43 EST
To: link at wombat.anu.edu.au
From: Roger.Clarke at anu.edu.au (Roger Clarke)
Subject: Re: Bill Gates
Cc: Warwick Cathro <w.cathro at nla.gov.au>

How's this for a folksy draft press release?  If it's worth doing, we have
an offer to do the distribution.  But if it's wrong, misleading,
unrepresentative of people's opinions, uninteresting or unlikely to either
(a) attract coverage or (b) stimulate journo's to think about the matter,
then forget the whole idea!

                              MEDIA RELEASE

           MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT THE AUSTRALIAN INFORMATION HIGHWAY
                          (MULTI-LANE OPINIONS?)

Bill Gates proposed to Paul Keating today that the National Information
Infrastructure should be recognised as a critical component of any 'clever
country' strategy.  Bill's argument has drawn mixed reactions from active
Internet users and watchers.

"It's wonderful that someone who has access to the top decision-maker in
the country has put public networking services at the top of the national
agenda", said some.

"Hold on a minute", said others.  "There's no such thing as free advice.
Bill Gates, for all his 'computer nerd' image, runs a massive company and
has his corporation's interests to protect and project".

Many people agree that the government should encourage the emergence of an
NII, and should use public statements, policy measures, subsidies and
targetted investments to achieve it.  The concerns are about what precisely
an NII is, and who the beneficiaries are going to be.

There is a serious danger of capture of the project by major information
technology corporations.  It is vital that the objectives be to advantage
Australians, not just corporations and not just overseas giants;  and that
the aims, strategies and developments be openly and publicly discussed.

Try talking to these people, on the phone, or the community of Internet
watchers, on link at wombat.anu.edu.au:

Tony Barry          (06)  xxx xxxx
Roger Clarke        (06)  249 3666,  home:  (06)  288 6916
Tom Worthington     (06)  xxx xxxx
<any takers??>

Roger Clarke                            Tel:    +61  6  249 3666
Reader in Information Systems
Department of Commerce                  Fax:    +61  6  249 5005
Australian National University
Canberra   ACT   0200
AUSTRALIA                               Email:  Roger.Clarke at anu.edu.au

-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
                    Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law               University of NSW
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University