In an otherwise completely unrelated weblog post, Rich Bowen made an excellent point that, by effectively forking Apache httpd documentation in 1997 (or whenever), developers and administrators are duplicating a huge amount of work.
If we could get all of these documentation writers to participate in some small way in the actual Apache web server documentation project, contributing howtos and documentation patches, as well as correcting their own misconceptions, imagine the wealth of howtos and documentation we would have now.
But, instead, we have 48,000 howtos that tell you that authentication requires .htaccess files and “Limit GET POST” blocks. The sheer enormity of wasted effort staggers the mind.
If only obsolete software expired.
(As I write this, a fan slowly dies to my left in an ancient P3 server running Red Hat 7.2 — a year obsolete when we put it into service.)
Old PIM fans like myself often have a real fondness for "Obsolete" software. ECCO Pro is still one of the most powerful PIMs ever created. And there is still a dedicated following for old DOS based Lotus Agenda. When the "modern" tools like Outlook are inferior to the ancient software, lets be thankful that the old stuff DOESN'T expire. And don't even get me started on the merits of older "retro" games for PCs vs the new first person shooters.