nls-technical
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: [nls-legal] Volunteer Newsletter

To: Tracy King <thking@parc.com>
Cc: nls-technical@chm.cim3.net, Jake Feinler <feinler@earthlink.net>, nls-legal@chm.cim3.net
From: Philip Gust <gust@NouveauSystems.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2006 08:49:23 -0700
Message-id: <7.0.1.0.2.20060411060615.1356ace8@NouveauSystems.com>
Tracy,    (01)

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.    (02)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=    (03)

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".    (04)

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.    (05)

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.    (06)

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.    (07)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=    (08)


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:    (09)


Philip Gust
Nouveau Systems, Inc.
3120 De La Cruz Blvd., Suite 120
Santa Clara, CA 95054    (010)

phone: +1 650 961-7992
fax:   +1 520 843-7217    (011)

mailto: gust@NouveauSystems.com    (012)

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    (013)



_________________________________________________________________
Message Archives: http://chm.cim3.net/forum/nls-legal/
Shared Files: http://chm.cim3.net/file/work/project/nls-restore/
Community Portal: http://www.computerhistory.org/  
To Post: mailto:nls-legal@chm.cim3.net
Community Wiki: http://chm.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?NLS_Restoration    (014)
<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>