Related to the OP's original post, I personally don't mind the book ads on Stason (if there is anything else, it's probably blocked by uBlock Origin and can't see it).
I've trained myself for decades to remove ads or simply ignore them on various websites, it has become a subconscious thing for my mind. I'm so used to it.

Caluser2000 wrote on 2020-05-21, 04:59:

Personally don't give a toss where my info comes from as long as it is correct.

+1.. and as long as the site doesn't have spyware it tries to load 🤣

Here's one:
https://th99.bl4ckb0x.de/
I'll see if I can run a mirror of my own...

wiretap wrote on 2020-05-21, 09:22:

+1.. and as long as the site doesn't have spyware it tries to load 🤣

If it were to be evil, I would rather think of cryptomining scripts running in the background 😉

I know that because it happened on me.

matze79 wrote on 2020-05-21, 09:04:

https://th99.dosreloaded.de/

we also mirror th99, without any Advertisement or other Shit.

And thanks for doing that! This was essentially my ONLY original point. There are lots perfectly good mirrors out there of the same content, but the guy slinging fake boner remedies has weasled his way to the top of the search results to the point where people think it's "his" work. I'm not 'offended' by seeing the ads (I run multiple ad countermeasures and a Pi-hole, and they're still there because they're just normal linked images on the site), but I am annoyed that others' attempts to host the same information in a more presentable way were getting buried because of shitty SEO and all the links were going to boner-book guy.

The fact that people have already said they had no idea the other mirrors existed kinda justifies the original post in my mind, even if I did come across as a little aggravated.

I still can't believe this needs to be a pissing match. Just use the community-hosted mirrors that aren't grinding up work they don't own to monetize your eyeballs, and make everyone's experience better. That's it.

legality:

I think Dice Inc. will have the answer.

Found elsewhere:

The most popular source about PC components is TotalHardware '99, found in lots of mirrors over the Internet. For example here. […]
Show full quote

The most popular source about PC components is TotalHardware '99, found in lots of mirrors over the Internet. For example here. There are few versions of it:
- "Full" TH99, has "Jumper settings for 18655 devices" and contains pictures.
- "Lite" TH99 has "Jumper settings for 18655 devices" but doesn't contain pictures.
- Early version with only 14K or so, not 18.
The history of this wonderful set of manuals is not much known. The images are identical as in the Micro House Technical Library. Micro House published their hardware datasheets on CD-ROMs in 1990s, but in 1999 they have been acquired by EarthWeb. In 2001 they stopped offering support on CD-ROMs.
TotalHardware is probably a dump of contents form these CD-ROMs in HTML format (my one CD-ROM from Micro House contains documentation in their proprietary format). In the history the name "A. Haning" (proof: http://web.archive.org/web/20110225192945/htt … otalhardware99/ ) has shown in 2002, when he was offering two versions: Lite and full, probably commercial. In his sites, mr. Haning writes about "Original TH99 CD-ROMs". Are they MicroHouse CD-ROMs? It is not known.

Working (sorry for copy/paste but this way we have all together):
Arvutimuuseum: https://arvutimuuseum.ee/th99/
Uncreative Labs: http://www.uncreativelabs.de/th99/
Fagear.ru: http://th99.fagear.ru/
https://th99.dosreloaded.de/
https://th99.bl4ckb0x.de/

https://th99.classic-computing.de/
http://bk0010.narod.ru/hardware_specs/total99.html
http://test.nostalgy.net.ru/alien/sites/th99/

TXT free earlier limited version:
http://www.ccs-a.com/th99/
http://www.angelfire.com/mn2/daveandkay/

Dead:
http://docs.van-diepen.com/th99/ -> http://web.archive.org/web/20020405165629/htt … th99/index.html
http://th99.dyndns.org/ -> etc
http://www.jumpers.computed.net/
https://rk86.com/th99/
http://artofhacking.com/th99/
http://www.thegreenhouse.us/th99/
http://th2r.no-ip.info/th99/index.htm
http://th99.org.ua/
http://th99.too.it/
http://docs.nojabrsk.ru/th99/
http://museum.ttrk.ee/th99/
http://utilb.ru/hardware_specs/total99.html
ftp://ftp.mrynet.com/Hardware/th99/index.html
http://www.d-c-p.com/drivespecs/th99/index.htm
http://www.geekdot.com/th99
http://th99.pley.org
http://www.megasat.ch/totalhardware/
http://nstu.berdsk.ru/biblio/th99/

Ow right, there are poisoned ones out there then:
http://jdelliott.org/wiki/index.php5?title=Main_Page "This website has been reported as harmful."

Agree 100% with this rant.

Thanks. I thought those annoying ads is something added by the webhosting. I'll be sourcing from elsewhere now.

xjas wrote on 2020-05-21, 09:36:

but the guy slinging fake boner remedies has weasled his way to the top of the search results to the point where people think it's "his" work.

Does anybody actually care where the info originally came from?
Do people make these to get recognition and/or profit or to help others?

I really don't get the opposition to this topic, there is literally no reason (now that we know better) to link to a source that is riddled with questionable at best ads when there are so many other sources to choose from that are offering the original content untouched.

I already stated why I made that mistake in the past, I simply put a part in google, and that site came up, I've since learned... and yes I find the content that is being displayed questionable so I won't link to it.
if others want to continue to even though they have been made aware of the fact, that is fine with me, but I'll just have my own thoughts about that then :p.

For me personally: laziness was all it was linking to stason. So I put about 15 minutes of effort finding alternatives. If I am feeling up to it, might replace my previous stason links with cleaner versions.

yeah sorry, I meant to say no reason at all now that we know ^^... like I said I too did this out of laziness and without knowing better.

I can imagine there are many people who did not/do not know any better.

One observation I have is why has stason managed to put a search into it but the others have not?

I am surprised by some quite strong feelings about something that does not seem to affect anyone personally.

One observation I have is why has stason managed to put a search into it but the others have not?

paid for a bit of SEO?

uBlock? AdBlock? NoScript?

imi wrote on 2020-05-21, 10:47:

I really don't get the opposition to this topic, there is literally no reason at all to link to a source that is riddled with questionable at best ads when there are so many other sources to choose from that are offering the original content untouched.

Multiple reasons: the original site doesn't turn up in search results, simple as that.
It's still easier to Google part of a model number and find what I'm looking for immediately on a popular site.
Also, the TH99 site is not mobile friendly at all. Everything is tiny and unreadable, navigating is difficult. Now compare it to the Stason version.
Huge difference. When my desk is full of tools & parts and I'm in the middle of a repair then using a phone is much easier.
Also, Googling a model number shows me the sketch board image and actual photos of the board so I can quickly compare them to my board.
In TH99 I have to open the site, click motherboards, click CPU type, open a search and type in the exact model name. No typos or the search fails.
When I start typing in Google the autocomplete kicks in so I don't have to know the full model number most of the time.

No wonder the Stason version got so popular and it's not because of the ads or the books.
I could question back: what's the opposition to a site that is more popular than the original, works better with Google and is mobile friendly?

I dont understand this at all........

SO whenever I look to google a motherboard, I go to google, I search and Stason.org is often the first site and I will ALWAYS go their when I see the result pop up?

Because it works, the information is their and Ive used it for years, No B.S.....

Now If I look for a driver and driverguide comes up............

SO to me nothing wrong with stason... Finding a driver is a complete pain in the ass because of crap like driverguide, stason call it convenience but geez its so simple and no crap, I have no idea about any adds or weird science some advertisers or site owners are pushing?

TH99 thats another trusted site, I dont see the difference between the two for gathering information?

If I just want basic jumper settings I would choose stason, for a possible manual TH99.

I had no idea about the angst against stason and I dont think my opinion has changed one bit because of this topic....

Either the Adblock plugins are doing their job or subconsciously I filter them due to a decades of web surfing experience.

Stason.org has book adds on the left which adblocker usually does not recognize, so you need to remove them manually. I did just that and forgot about it.

Miphee wrote on 2020-05-21, 11:50:

Multiple reasons: the original site doesn't turn up in search results, simple as that. It's still easier to Google part of a mod […]
Show full quote

imi wrote on 2020-05-21, 10:47:

I really don't get the opposition to this topic, there is literally no reason at all to link to a source that is riddled with questionable at best ads when there are so many other sources to choose from that are offering the original content untouched.

Multiple reasons: the original site doesn't turn up in search results, simple as that.
It's still easier to Google part of a model number and find what I'm looking for immediately on a popular site.
Also, the TH99 site is not mobile friendly at all. Everything is tiny and unreadable, navigating is difficult. Now compare it to the Stason version.
Huge difference. When my desk is full of tools & parts and I'm in the middle of a repair then using a phone is much easier.
Also, Googling a model number shows me the sketch board image and actual photos of the board so I can quickly compare them to my board.
In TH99 I have to open the site, click motherboards, click CPU type, open a search and type in the exact model name. No typos or the search fails.
When I start typing in Google the autocomplete kicks in so I don't have to know the full model number most of the time.

No wonder the Stason version got so popular and it's not because of the ads or the books.
I could question back: what's the opposition to a site that is more popular than the original, works better with Google and is mobile friendly?

multiple mirrors turn up in search results, st* is just first because it gets linked more often, that is how google works... so "we" are at fault for that kind of.
that is why it would be better to link the other versions instead.

if it works better for you on mobile... sure use it if you want nobody saying you can't :p
this is about linking the information for others, and I am with OP here that I think it is better to link mirrors that host the "original" version than to link to a site that uses the content to casually promote themselves and their (questionable imo) products.

adblock won't do anything cause they are not external ads but self-promotion.

I also don't see this as a personal attack against anyone.

Each his own opinion.... I used Stason a lot. I'll bookmark the ad-free ones but TBH I never noticed the ads.
Strange thread this is 😀