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protonet:about

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About PROTONET

There is a growing interest in computing history, computer networking and how it all came to be. In early 2000's I started noticing a increase of early historically significant web sites going offline. I didn't want an important part of our culture disappear, so around 2011 I started a long-term project with the goal of preserving web sites that are disappearing and primarily focus on archiving, and later on build a comprehensive service, where archived web sites can be browsed and searched as if they were still online. Over the years I've placed a special emphasis on preserving the look and feel of the early Internet experience as close as possible. For the scope of the project, mid-to-late 1990's was chosen. There are several other reasons this timeline was chosen.

  1. Internet experienced a strong global expansion around this time, with half the population in the US accessing the Internet on a regular basis.
  2. Most consumers had their first experience of surfing the Internet.
  3. Many significant early web services opened around this time.
  4. There are more resources available for purposes of restoration and archival.

There are some key aspects our service differs from other web archival sites such as the Wayback Machine at archive.org.

  1. The web sites are restored back to functional status. Broken links are fixed, and manual work is put using several sources to restore full functionality.
  2. The web sites are browseable with original period correct hardware.
  3. Several protocols (including HTTP and FTP) are supported, and more are added over time.
  4. Dynamic website content, such as web searches are supported.
  5. File downloads are restored.

The project's aim is to preserve the user experience of visiting web sites historically accurate, and provide a guide for future generations. It is a service that can be freely used by computing history organizations for purposes of demonstrating the early Internet, and by vintage computer enthusiasts. It allows users and interested parties to browse the Internet with classic web browsers, and experience the early Internet as it was in it's early iteration. That is what PROTONET essentially is, and the service continues to grow, as more web sites are brought online thanks to the Internet history enthusiasts who are working hard to contribute content and fix broken links.

Quality over Quantity

PROTONET was never meant to be an extensive archive. It's purpose is mainly to focus on accuracy of the user experience and present the archived content as it was. Over time the the archive has grown as we've reconstructed and recovered files from a plethora of sources, and we've worked tirelessly to restore website functionality including dynamic content such as search engines, guest books and visitor counters. Emphasis has also been given to finding and restoring rare downloads, and they have been made available along with the pages that link to them. FTP sites that no longer exist are made available through the service and are free to use.

A Team Effort Preserving The Past

The project is no minor undertaking, however the Protonet team remain committed to bringing these web sites back online and restore them to their former glory. The project would not be possible without your help. If you have resources, web sites to contribute, please contact us and we'd be happy to add it as part of Protonet.


Questions? Comments?

protonet/about.1598732721.txt.gz · Last modified: 2020-08-29 20:25 by omolini