Another disk imaging project

[Doc Shipley]

Dave Dunfield wrote:
> 
> lots of other arguments snipped.
> 
> Ok - I don't need to get dumped on anymore. Consider the idea dropped...

   Umm, please no.  I've been staying out of this because I don't have 
the hardware skills or the knowledge of formats to contribute, but I do 
have an opinion, or at least I see some factors that make your idea 
desirable.

1)  The first point is something Dave already touched on - there is no 
One True Solution here.  I rad Dave's proposal and I envision a *group* 
of products, all based on the same basic framework and each supporting 
more-or-less similar formats and media.

   It might theoretically be _possible_ to create a device that will 
read every floppy format ever devised, but why on earth would that be 
_desirable_?  Such a logical behemoth is bound to be extremely complex 
and expensive, and most of its features and formats will be useless to 
most of its users.

   For example, I have an XE1514 cable and a 1514 drive.  I do not need 
those features in an SBC solution.  A parallel port and compatible 
supporting software will be enough.

2)  *Any* hardware solution for archiving/migrating/transcribing media 
is going to be, financially, a negative-sum project.  I think that's a 
given.  As interested parties, we need to expect it to be Not Cheap, at 
least initially.  I'm speaking in terms of time as much as money.

3)  Individual Computers is a profit-making venture.  The catweasel is a 
current product.  While I use and like mine, I don't expect it ever to 
be an open product.  I personally would like to see "the standard" based 
on more common hardware.

4)  Nothing Dave does is written in stone.  Worst case, it would be a 
marginally applicable tool for a few common formats, and a prototypical 
starting point for further development.

5)  (Go ahead and shoot me now.)  I see absolutely no reason to base an 
SBC archival tool on Z80, 8008, or any other classic platform, unless 
that directly facilitates its function.  This is a tool, and should be 
built from the most efficient and available components.

6)  There's not a chance that everybody is going to get everything they 
need from the first iteration of this project.  Anybody remember The 
Search For The Perfect Archival Format?


   We have here someone who's interested and experienced, who has a 
track record of creating useful and useable Stuff, apparently has the 
resources to START work on a much-needed set of tools, and who is 
OFFERING TO DO IT.  I say we applaud instead of throwing rocks.


	Doc