Time-out, please. I appreciate there are mega-minds out there, that talk TCP/IP and know protocols forwards and backwards. They can manipulate Linux like Play-Doh. That's not me, I'm an old person that knows 8-bit computers from original use. I have those skills and others, I have some training, I know what "skills" means. And so my situation, likely applies to a number of other people, who own other 8-bit or 16-bit computers, who post in or read this list. We aren't mega-minds, but we know some stuff; and we have some vintage stuff. Here's the deal as I see it. There's dead networking protocols from the 8-bit and 16-bit microcomputing era. ARCnet. NOvell. Token Ring. And not quite dead in the Mac world, Appletalk (over Phonenet or on Ethernet). These are not in (much) use today. Hardware and software for them are scattered to the winds. Current hardware is powerful - but these are dead technologies, the two don't mix well. Maybe there's some Web page or email discussion about each of these - but it's likely to be a group of mega-minds who will be talking about packet-drivers, who worked for Novell or Tandy, who are writing them in TK-TCL, to run on Sparc stations - completely above my pay grade, out of my reach, beyond my experiences and most of my vintage hardware. OK? And not just me. The issue isn't "let's make protocol converters so ARCnet can talk TCP/IP and we can print pages and do Web browsers on TRS-80s". The issue is "look - I have ARCnet running between two computers!" OK? Base hits, not home-runs with bases loaded and fireworks. Sorry to be boring. But - I'm not gonna be able to gather, say, ARCnet hardware and software together on some S-100 boxes and *make them work by myself*. OK? But I doubt someone else is going to stop what THEY are doing, ask me to do nothing otherwise too, work by email from hundreds or thousand of miles away - all to try to get some 4 MHz Z80 S-100 box to talk to an ARCnet card to some hub to some other ARCnet node (which I don't have or would be yet another S-100 box). Same with a pair of IBM-PC's or a pair of Tandy boxes, etc. That's the general circumstance. People with some vintage computers, some vintage networking hardware - but no means to access a working test networking setup, no skills-set to reconstruct such a setup from scratch. OK? But *maybe* if there's a group of smart-enough people with hardware-in-hand, they can come up with such a working test setup, for ONE networking protocol, that can be replicated by mere mortals. *Maybe* they can exhibit such a setup, or bring it to some workshops. *Maybe* us mere mortals can bring our toys into that situation, and try to make them work. To do so efficiently, we would have to do some homework before-hand, right? To have the hardware ready, to have some software ready, some kind of testing, some kind of performance established - before we show up. Right? Think that through. What's needed to make that happen? It means those "smart people" provide some resources online, so they can be read and downloaded, so these 8-bit owners can read-up, prepare hardware, find resources, etc. OK? I'm just walking backwards, through some planning. And *that's the hard part*, for the (excuse me) mega-minds. It's fun to talk about complicated things, among other people who already know that stuff. It's less fun, to explain it to those who don't. And the *least fun*? Laying out the ground-work, Web pages, drivers, software, docs on hardware (even finding hardware) - so we of lesser mind and resource, can run this stuff ourselves, learn how to make it run ourselves or with a little help. *That's* the situation as I see it. That's my view, from my experiences. Now - if a few people who know this stuff, just want to set up some Novell or other dead-network and show it off - that's fine. It would be interesting, and certainly a challenge, and is a worthy exhibit. My memory is short - maybe such networking exhibits have occurred at VCF-East in the past. But how about, *preserving* that knowledge and "passing it forward"? How do you do *that*? That's what I'm talking about. That's what happens, afterwards. For all I know, others HAVE done this - and have a Web site, and it's all there. Haven't checked lately, pardon my ignorance. And if that's just outside the scope of what Bill Degnan and some other folks are talking about, of course that's entirely up to them to not do. This is a hobby and people do what pleases them and interests them. I'm presenting a point of view about Bill Degnan's proposal; I'm responding to his "idea for an exhibit". These are my responses ... and I'm done. Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT info