VOGONS

Terms of use

These rules were last updated on 2 May 2026.

By creating or using an account on VOGONS, you agree to follow these rules.

Open content policy

VOGONS is a global community whose main goal is to document and preserve the history of electronic hardware and software. To ensure that this knowledge is available to future generations, we require all submissions to VOGONS to follow our open content policy:

  1. You agree to release all posts and files you submit to VOGONS under an approved open license. You choose which license to use for each submission.
  2. You certify that you have the legal right to release submissions under the license you choose.

  3. Certain works which you cannot legally release under an open license may also be posted to VOGONS using the special “Fair use” license. These works must be:

    1. Freeware, shareware, and other similar software where the copyright owner granted redistribution rights; or
    2. Screenshots, videos, or audio recordings of small portions of copyrighted material for the purposes of education or research; or
    3. Portions of copyrighted code or documentation for the purposes of education or research.

Works not meeting these criteria must not be submitted to VOGONS. In particular, “abandonware” is not allowed on VOGONS. Donate commercially unavailable copyrighted works of historical interest to the Internet Archive or to a local library or museum.

Community standards

Members of VOGONS agree to make a good faith effort to create a welcoming and supportive environment for all people.

This means to do things like:

  • Be respectful of differing viewpoints and experiences
  • Gracefully accept constructive criticism
  • Focus on the mutual goals and interests of our community
  • Show empathy toward other community members
  • Assume good faith from other participants unless proven otherwise

And don’t do things like:

  • Threaten, insult, or harass others
  • Troll, derail, conspiracy theorise, or engage in other deliberately destructive behaviour
  • Use discriminatory jokes and language
  • Conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting
  • Advocate for, or encourage, any of the above

Threatening or harassing VOGONS members off-site is treated the same as harassment on-site.

If you believe these standards have been violated, please report it by flagging the offending post or by sending a private message to a moderator.

These community standards are adapted from the Contributor Covenant version 1.4.

Everything else

  1. You accept our privacy policy.
  2. You accept that VOGONS may edit or remove your submissions for any reason.
  3. You accept that we may limit your ability to edit or remove your submissions to protect critical research.
  4. You indemnify and hold harmless VOGONS for any loss resulting from of your use of VOGONS.
  5. You won’t post content which violates the laws of the State of New Jersey, United States of America, or the laws where you live.
  6. You won’t post replies containing only reaction images. This style of post has no informational value and encourages toxicity.
  7. You won’t use VOGONS to promote auctions or social media channels. This style of post encourages activity from people who are not actually interested in being part of the community. (Posts from established community members about hobby projects like part recreations, PCB kits, etc. is fine.)
  8. You won’t try to hack or disrupt the site or its members, or bypass moderation of your account. (If you discover a security problem, please report it via the contact form straight away. We will fix the problem and give you credit if you want.)
  9. You won’t post topics or replies that are authored by AI. This style of post is uninteresting and damages trust and connection within the community. (Using AI for language translation is fine, but it must not add its own thoughts. Posts about AI or projects that use AI are also fine, but please disclose this.)

These terms may be updated in the future. We will use member feedback to make revisions. Continuing to use a VOGONS user account after an update means you agree to follow the updated terms. We will do our best to give advance notice of updated terms, but you agree that you are ultimately responsible for knowing these rules when using a VOGONS account.

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