Why do I keep this site?
Sigfrid Lundberg's Stuff 2009-06-27
A week or two ago I registered this site with Google Analytics. My Internet supply provider's statics is virtually useless. Then I've spent quite some time cutting and pasting the javascript into my olde stuff.
I haven't cared about this site for about four years and as far as I can tell now, this place is hit by a one or two people per day, each of which stay less than a minute. Why they come I don't know, and Google Analytics won't tell me yet.
Now, I didn't expect anything else. I use the site as a store for old documentation, of which just a few things could possibly be valuable for students of Internet history. Most likely, though, they hardly even deserve a footnote in the posterity.
The origins
I started this site autumn 1995. The oldest documents still in the public collection is from 1996. Now, started isn't really the right word. I never planned to build a web site with old documents. Basically, I started a web server on a development machine and devoted an area for project documentation and reports. I could then drop a piece of text there and send the URI to my colleagues or customers. That is how it started.
This worked well to begin with, but about five years later the rudimentary structure per project was lost. I then made a backup copy, and created a structure by year, and copied stuff from the old site into it. This is the way it is now.
I started the current site 2005, when I left Lund university for a new job in Copenhagen. I felt that I just couldn't let this material just disappear.
The site contains quite a few archived files. Counting them gives 241 HTML files, 21 pdf, 84 xml and so forth. Of these I regard 37 as publications of some kind, in the sense that there are links to them that may be reached from the home page. It is still just a sample, the raw collection contains 2452 HTML files.
I have no idea if I have benefited from the site, or if the material has been useful for someone else. For a few years, notably 2002, 2003 and 2004, I did have an idea that I should make an active effort to maintain a web site. Some of the best texts are from that period.
Publish or let it perish?
I earn my livelihood as a developer for the Worldwide Web. But this site is not a part of what I do for my living. So, should I have it available here or let it perish?
I pay my ISP 250 SEK per month for this, which include a Linux shell prompt available via secure shell and some storage. The storage side of it is no big deal; I have already a number of USB hard disks around. I have also *.zip and *.tar.gz files as attachment on my gmail account, which provides huge storage and good value for money in comparison with what I get from my ISP. But then, 250 SEK is no big deal either.
So I'll keep it, for the time being. I don't think my stuff contribute very much to the digital refuse spread over the net. I've added an ATOM syndication feed for the garbage I decided to keep, a subject browsing based on the ATOM categories. Finally I've added some texts from the last few years. These are basically of the same kind as the rest of my stuff. Reports and papers written for some specific purpose and republished here entirely out of context.
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NB
My name is Sigfrid Lundberg. The stuff I publish here may, or may not, be of interest for anyone else.
On this site there is material on photography, music, literature and other stuff I enjoy in life. However, most of it is related to my profession as an Internet programmer and software developer within the area of digital libraries. I have been that at the Royal Danish Library, Copenhagen (Denmark) and, before that, Lund university library (Sweden).
The content here does not reflect the views of my employers. They are now all past employers, since I retired 1 May 2023.
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