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Re: [nls-technical] Volunteer Newsletter

To: Philip Gust <gust@NouveauSystems.com>
Cc: nls-technical@chm.cim3.net, Jake Feinler <feinler@earthlink.net>, nls-legal@chm.cim3.net
From: Tracy Holloway King <thking@parc.com>
Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2006 12:44:57 PDT
Message-id: <Pine.GSO.4.50.0604151244270.27978-100000@thinkalot.parc.xerox.com>

Hi,
   No problem about the delay - I am going to be putting things together
Monday and so it is on time.
   Many thanks,
   Tracy    (01)

On Tue, 11 Apr 2006, Philip Gust wrote:    (02)

> Tracy,
>
> Sorry for the delay in getting this to you.  Here are a few
> paragraphs on the NLS/Augment restoration project of the Software
> Collection Committee.  Feel free to edit if space is tight, or let me
> know if you'd like me to shorten it.  I did want to make sure the
> people working on this project were properly credited.
>
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>
> The Software Collection Committee  (SCC), under chair Bernard Peuto,
> has several test bed projects to explore how to collect historically
> important software, as the museum currently does with hardware and
> other artifacts. Paul McJones is leading Fortran and Lisp projects,
> and I am leading a project to preserve NLS.   NLS (oNLine System) is
> an advanced knowledge management and collaboration system that was
> originally developed by Dr. Douglas Engelbart and his team at SRI
> from 1964 to 1977. It is a seminal software system that pioneered
> such things as hypermedia, windowed user interfaces, display editing,
> video conferencing, screen sharing, and groupware.  Ironically, the
> best known by-product from this work is the mouse. Doug's
> demonstration at the 1968 ACM conference in San Francisco is still
> famous as the "mother of all demos".
>
> The project started eighteen months ago, and is lucky to have a
> "dream team" of six core and eight advisory members, including Doug
> Engelbart and several members of his original SRI team.  Thanks to
> Doug, Rayleen Pak, Ken Harrenstien, and Jonathan Cheyer (technical
> lead), we have cloned the last running NLS system, which Doug still
> uses daily. We are now in the process of studying it (something that
> may take several more years) and packaging it for future
> distribution.  This project is unique because it is collecting not
> only related manuals, videos, and other documents, but also
> historical NLS hardware and schematics.  It is also creating new
> software, including a Java based version of the AugTerm client and an
> exporter and XML schema for document content, as well as new
> hardware, including USB interfaces and replicas of the original chord
> keyset and mouse.  Finally we are collaborating closely with a new
> NSF funded Hyperscope project under Eugene Kim to create a modern NLS
> system, and Peter Yim of CIM3.
>
> One of  most difficult parts of the project has been the legal
> issues.  We needed to trace patents, trademarks, copyrights and other
> IP, and secure releases to make NLS and related material publicly
> available.  NLS was sold by SRI to Tymshare/Tymnet in 1977 and later
> to McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing), then to British Telecom,
> and then to MCI (now part of Verizon). Thanks to work by Sally Abel,
> Kathe Gust, and Jake Feinler, we located and cleared all related
> patents and trademarks. Getting permission to release copyrighted
> software and documents has taken over a year.  None of the companies
> has records of owning this material, and all were reluctant to
> provide copyright releases.  However, with help from the late Lew
> Platt at Boeing, Adam Cheyer at SRI and Vint Cerf formerly at
> Verizon, we have secured sufficient releases from Boeing and BT, and
> expect to soon  from SRI and Verizon. As a result, we will finally be
> able to make the software and documents widely available for study,
> hopefully in time for SRI's 50th anniversary in October.
>
> This has been a complex project, but one that will provide a great
> deal of information on collecting software to CHM, and a wealth of
> historical information to historians and the general public,  Best of
> all, it will make the public aware of the visionary system created by
> Doug Engelbart and his team at SRI, decades before similar
> capabilities were widely available in modern computer systems.
>
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
>
>
> At 11:50 AM 4/9/2006, Jake Feinler wrote:
> >Philip,
> >
> >Could you or Kathy write two or three paragraphs for the museum
> >Volunteer Newsletter concerning your work on restoring NLS and your
> >collaboration with Eugene Kim and Doug, and send it to Tracy King
> >with a cc: to me.  I would attempt to write it, but have been away
> >for several weeks and am woefully behind on the progress you have made.
> >Tracy needs this as soon as possible
> >
> >Thanks,
> >
> >Jake
> >On Mar 15, 2006, at 3:49 PM, Philip Gust wrote:
>
>
> Philip Gust
> Nouveau Systems, Inc.
> 3120 De La Cruz Blvd., Suite 120
> Santa Clara, CA 95054
>
> phone: +1 650 961-7992
> fax:   +1 520 843-7217
>
> mailto: gust@NouveauSystems.com
>
> Nouveau Systems products seamlessly integrate collaboration,
> information management, processes automation, and capture of
> mission-critical knowledge.  To learn how Nouveau Systems products
> can help your organization drive innovation, visit:
> http://www.NouveauSystems.com
>
>
>    (03)

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