Software preservation - your opinions

[fizz]

I personally think software preservation is as important as preserving books and history, it just seems to be niche because computer technology is so modern.

Recently I discovered a gem of the past - Pokémon duel, and I've wanted to play it so badly, but unfortunately the only way to do so is closed source using a sketchy patcher. Still better than nothing

What do y'all think?

[casadiella]

i mean, software preservation in particular is interesting because besides emulation, most software can only be truly experienced on one type of hardware unlike things such as movies which can be stored in many different formats and played on various devices made throughout time. i think it's certainly important considering how personal even the most niche games can be to the people who played them. i assume most of us, even people who don't really play games that often, have at least one game that nobody really talks about that you remember fondly, and i think games like that are the reason software preservation is important. its just a shame that companies dont understand this enough even nowadays.

[Wam]

Honestly not sure why this is even a question, software preservation is absolutely necessary. It's history, just like anything else, and imho it goes well beyond just emulation.

For instance, there are many physical pieces of hardware that simply do not function anymore due to offline servers. Some of these you can't even currently hack in such a way that it'll point at a replacement, not that a replacement even exists. These devices are therefore completely bricked.
We're talking say, the iPhone 6s on iOS 9, every single Windows Phone ever made, basically any smart home device. These devices become paperweights not because they don't work, but because the software backends and services they depend on no longer exist.

The same applies to software too, games with shut down online servers and content you can no longer access. Mario Kart Wii has a whole battle course you cannot access anymore without Wiimmfi. That content, locked away forever because GameSpy went under. It's a matter of time before you simply cannot activate Windows XP anymore, even over the phone. At that point you are forced to pirate just to use software you probably paid for.

Shit sucks. But there's not an awful lot we can do. We can try to create server replacements, but with security as good as it is these days (most stuff using HTTPS, code signing, encryption etc.) we depend on the abilities of ""hackers"" to be able to do this at all. I honestly feel there should be a mandate to release backend information, or at least the ability to unlock hardware/software from their official servers once they go under, but I'm no legislator.

[Shaddow798]

I would say software and hardware is a form of art. And needs to be preserved.
This is our generations history and we need to be able to keep games and applications usable overtime.
I think it should be required for companys when they shutdown the servers for games that are always online, the server software should be realeased to the community, With the condition they cannot make any money off it.

Also hacking hardware to be able to use it for other unintended uses is incredibly important, as it allows it to be used for a long time beond the manufactour supporting it. for instance any device using like eg ios 6 is basicly usless without a jailbreak.

[Hanzo]

I agree that software should be preserved in any way. Having lost some of my old videos and other stuff I had made over the years, and regretting it later made me realize just how important preservation is, especially in the realm of online services like PlayStation Home and the original Xbox Live where we, the community have to revive them unofficially.

Nintendo are the prime example of not preserving their games properly. They don't want you to pirate their games, yet they don't re-release them, and they're only making it worse with the Wii U and 3DS eShop shut down as those systems are the only way we could buy their classic games.