Just a couple off the top of my head.

A small but interesting server containing MIDI/Sound things from an Australian University.

ftp://ftp.monash.edu.au/

A bunch of early to mid 90s soundbanks & MIDIs - including MT-32 and GUS specific files, along with a lot of MIDI files in general.

Also featured are some early 90s to early 2000s Vietnam & Japan releated files, including what appears to be software, books and other stuff. I haven't really looked at this, I just know it's there.

There is also a PC folder with mid to late 90s files. I haven't looked at these either, and it's likely nothing you can't or haven't seen elsewhere.

ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/

Amstrad, Atari, Unix related goodies and some Windows stuff.

We can't forget the all time classic Sunet archive. A true gem if you love looking at early to mid 90s multimedia.

And there's likely dozens of archives of it, everyone knows about it, but it's too good not to share in any FTP thread - especially on a site like this!

ftp://ftp.sunet.se/mirror/archive/ftp.sunet.se/pub/

Will take me too much time to try to describe these, but there is something interesting there, somewhere, be it bios/drivers/games/useful programs etc, depending on which level you go. If the direct link seems too specific, just go up a level or 2 and look around. There is usually an index text file in whatever the current directory you are is, which may explain the cryptic file names:

ftp://ftp.isu.edu.tw/pub/Hardware/Labway/Ymf_719

ftp://ftp.boulder.ibm.com/software

ftp://ftp.oldskool.org/pub/tvdog/tandy1000/games

ftp://ftp.atari.com/patches/mtg

ftp://ftp.elf.stuba.sk/pub/pc/utildisk

ftp://78.46.141.148/dos

ftp://ftp.matrox.com/pub/mga/archive/2kxp/2006

ftp://ftp.gamers.org/pub

ftp://ftp.ubi.com/pub

ftp://ftp.supermicro.com/

ftp://terabyteunlimited.com/

ftp://ftp.tnt.uni-hannover.de/pub/tmp/misc/alsa-za2

ftp://ftp.lab.unb.br/pub/asme/SYS_AID

I have no idea where most of these links came from, as they are old favorites in my ancient ftp browser, but some may hail from postings I've seen here on vogons, others from noting the hidden links on webpages I've downloaded files from, so.... 😀

Sorry if this is not what OP was looking for, and for not detailing what is on each.

Just a note: 78.46.141.148 is the address of retronn.de

Found very hard to find DPT EISA RAID controller DOS utils and drivers at this site. Lot's of vintage hardware drivers under the "stuff" folder.

ftp://ftp.dyu.edu.tw/pub/Hardware

This seems interesting. You never know what FTP sites you'll find that could be relevant to what this community is about. Although I wonder if this would apply to Vogons' "no abandonware" policy... Nah 😀

Anyway, I found quite a few FTP servers that seemed interesting.

http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/
This isn't really an FTP server, but rather an HTTP server, but it does have some fine goodies, so I thought I'd count it.

ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/

ftp://ftp.dbit.com/pub/

End of list.

keenmaster486 wrote:

We gotta preserve this stuff before it dies.

Even if an FTP server is dead, no one would ever be able to access it again, so I don't think that would be anything possible, preserving dead/retired/inaccessible servers. Or am I wrong? 😦

removed

keenmaster486 wrote:

Have you found a cool FTP server that has lots of goodies on it? Post it here! Maybe someone will archive it, for posterity!

We gotta preserve this stuff before it dies.

No "warez" or "abandonwarez" servers please. Rules of VOGONS.

Thanks for the links guys, good stuff so far!

Yes - Stiletto, this thread is for legitimate servers.

Are we really at this whole "abandonware" ordeal again? I just don't know why you have to be so against that type of stuff. I'm not trying to start to fight, I was just wondering why it's like this with the Vogons community. I guess people should know that abandonware is not warez. Again, I'm not trying to start an argument.

JonathonWyble wrote:

Are we really at this whole "abandonware" ordeal again? I just don't know why you have to be so against that type of stuff. I'm not trying to start to fight, I was just wondering why it's like this with the Vogons community. I guess people should know that abandonware is not warez. Again, I'm not trying to start an argument.

Adding to this -
Although many vogons members don't reside in the United States, most of these concerns stem from US-based laws; however there are already provisions permitting the preservation of digital content once the physical medium on which it was originally distributed can no longer be read or run.
For example: my (insert game) requires a floppy drive and Windows 95 to run. Do PCs still come with floppy drives and can I buy Windows 95 from Microsoft? No and no.
Additionally, in 2015, "a new exemption allows players to modify their copy of a game to eliminate the need for an authentication server after the original server is shut down. Museums, libraries, and archives can go a step further and jailbreak game consoles as needed to get the games working again. "
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/10/victory … tions-fair-uses

Of course, that still implies that one is the legal owner of said software or games; but if you own a game that was distributed on 5.25" floppies, then the law supports you in holding that digital content today in whatever representation is needed to run it (files on an SSD executed by an emulator, for example); and the law is behind you if the current rights holders try to claim you need to "pay again".
Regarding abandonware specifically, that is, software that is no longer available to buy and the most recent copyright holder defunct or no long in existence: please show me the list of lawsuits (from any country) brought fourth by said defunct copyright-holder against distributors / consumers / users of the abandonware. (yes, this is a serious question.. I honestly have never heard of such a court case). In these cases, fair use likely applies - see https://fairuse.stanford.edu/2003/11/10/digit … tion_and_copyr/, which contains references to US law wording.

Aside from the ethical issue, hosting links to abandonware websites could get the forum's hosting pulled.

Errius wrote:

Aside from the ethical issue ...

The Council on Library and Information Resources disagrees with you, in their own wording:

"Virtually everyone views preservation copying as socially beneficial. It is consistent with the Constitutional purposes for copyright since the preservation of printed knowledge is necessary for the progress of science and the useful arts."

-- https://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub110/, Washington, D.C., September 1990

We need to realize that almost the entire planet doesn't care about defunct, long gone software.. and unless someone actually preserves it through reproduction, it will be lost for good. Society, and people far smarter than me at the Council on Library and Information, praise those willing to dedicate their time and resources, however small it might be.

Vogons moderators of course can burn these threads down and scrub these dying ftp links.. and hasten the loss if they like. Yeah, that's a bit inflammatory.. but I'm just trying to get people to realize we are a shrinking population.

How many senior citizens do you know still maintain working Morse code equipment? That will be us in 40 years clutching what remains of our DOS collection.

We are not going to rehash the abandonware thing here!! Take it somewhere else!

This thread is for public, legitimate FTP servers.

If the mods were ok with abandonware then I would state the purpose of the thread accordingly. But they are not - please don’t get my thread deleted by starting a flame war with the mods that you are guaranteed to lose.

Agreed; I'm merely replying with facts on a 1:1 basis against veiled threats.

Abandonware isn't even legally a thing. If you can show the copyright on software has legally lapsed or is no longer applicable, the software in question is then public domain (which is legally a thing). If a rights holder dies without an heir or next of kin, the copyright will pass to the state, potentially as a public domain work or under terms unchanged (but for ownership). I suppose it could be resold as well. In any case, what is allowed in such circumstances does vary considerably between jurisdictions.

A copyrighted work for which a rights holder cannot be located is known as an orphan work. The copyright still remains in force in these cases, although some locales provide a scheme to collect licensing for orphan works in lieu of the author, presumably kept in trust if they ever show up.

Of all the coding-related websites on the internet, the one full of DOS programmers is not the place to argue that old software should be free.

Can y’all take it somewhere else, please, so my thread doesn’t get torched?

Following up on this as an example of an FTP server disappearing. The original post mentioned ftp://alag3.mfa.kfki.hu/ which is now gone. What kind of goodies was on it?