[ih] Saving IETF history

[dave walden]

The 1973 IMP had extensive documentation although not for the purpose of 
a patent dispute and not exactly for the same listing version as we were 
analyzing.
See 
https://walden-family.com/impcode/IMPSYS-Document-with-flowcharts.pdf and'
https://walden-family.com/impcode/Technical_Information_Report_89.pdf
These also are now archived at the Software History Center of the 
Computer History Museum.

Such documentation was not our normal practice.  It was required one 
year by whichever government person was managing our contract --- for a 
purpose I do not remember.  More normally, the documentation was the 
listing and in the memory of the program maintainer.


On 5/12/2021 11:21 PM, Toerless Eckert via Internet-history wrote:
> Thanks for the story, Jack.
>
> Given how much of a believer in good public documentation i am, however curious:
>
> Was the functionality in question well enough publically documented with
> according early dates ? I suspect not befcause i would be surprised if the documentation
> would not have been good enough, if it existed. After all, most patents are also graanted
> without evidence that they work, so its patenting of concept, not evidence
> thereof (which might have been different in decades before my time though..).
>
> Cheers
>      Toerless
>
>