Re: Oberon CD / ACM / Writers Of Out Of Print Oberon Books

From: <>
Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 11:07:50 +0100

Hi Ronald,

AFAIK, the copyright is still at ACM Press. You may contact for
this purpose the main editor at ACM (see included correspondence
with him below). I can imagine that ACM would be willing to
support the Oberon CD (but you have to attract their interest).

Martin Reiser's current e-mail (it was difficult to dig him out)
is: martin.reiser{([at]})nowhere.xy

In the docu of http://www.lrz-muenchen.de/~bernhard/OV4-StdCoded.txt
is a scanned & OCRed version of Chapter 14 of Reiser's Oberon System,
for which I've got the permission to redistribute it from AWL.


There is also some other BlackBox stuff on
   http://www.lrz-muenchen.de/~bernhard/MoreBBUtil.html
which you may include on your CD (including my BlackBox port
of Depot/4.

-- 
    Bernhard Treutwein             Tel. +49-89-5996-642, Fax -615
    Institut f. Med. Psychologie  Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet
    bernhard{([at]})nowhere.xy    --------------------------------  ---------------------------
    C is its own virus
Here is what Ive got from the ACM editor:
 > From jono{([at]})nowhere.xy > Return-Path: <jono{([at]})nowhere.xy > [...]
 > From: Jono Hardjowirogo <jono{([at]})nowhere.xy > [...]
 > Subject: RE: The Oberon Series 
 > Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 16:16:21 -0400
 > [...]
 > 
 > Dear Prof. Treutwein,
 > 
 > Unfortunately, all the Oberon series of books were put out of print
 > because they no longer sells. So, it was done for economic reason
more
 > than anything else. Interests in the Oberon project are no longer as
 > strong as they were once, so, we felt that it was time to retire the
 > books from the active list.
 > 
 > I do agree with you assessment that the project was of a monumental
 > importance to computer science. For this reason, I am looking to have
 > those books scanned and made available in their entireties on the ACM
 > website. This way, future programmers who are looking for materials
on
 > Oberon can simply take a look or download the materials in which they
 > are interested. I am not sure when we can have this affected as it
does
 > involve some logistical issues from our side.
 > 
 > Best regards,
 > 
 > Jono Hardjowirogo
 > Publisher, ACM Press Books and Journals
 > 
 > > -----Original Message-----
 > > From:	Deborah Cotton 
 > > Sent:	Tuesday, September 21, 1999 12:16 PM
 > > To:	'bernhard{([at]})nowhere.xy > > Cc:	Jono Hardjowirogo; Deborah Cotton
 > > Subject:	RE: The Oberon Series 
 > > 
 > > Hello Prof. Treutwein,
 > > 
 > > Thanks for the compliment, but I'm forwarding this to Jono 
 > > Hardjowirogo, ACM Press Books publisher, as this question 
 > > is beyond my scope.  I was not aware that ACM Press had 
 > > discontinued the Oberon series, but perhaps he can give details 
 > > regarding the decision or refer you to the proper authority in
 > > this case.  Good luck.
 > > 
 > > Best regards,
 > > 
 > > Deborah
 > > 
 > > 	-----Original Message-----
 > > 	From:	bernhard{([at]})nowhere.xy[SMTP:bernhard{([at]})nowhere.xy > > 	Sent:	Tuesday, September 21, 1999 3:50 AM
 > > 	To:	cotton{([at]})nowhere.xy > > 	Subject:	The Oberon Series 
 > > 
 > > 	Dear Deborah Cotton,
 > > 
 > > 	sorry to contact you again, but since you were very cooperative in
 > > 	my Copyright question about Reiser's Oberon System in April to
June
 > > 	this year, I hope that you can point me out, whome I should
contact
 > > 	with the following issue:
 > > 
 > > 	AWL has finally shut down the whole Oberon series:
 > > 
 > > 	[WiR92] N. Wirth and M. Reiser 
 > > 	     Programming in Oberon - Steps Beyond Pascal and Modula 
 > > 	     Addison-Wesley, 1992, ISBN 0-201-56543-9 
 > > 
 > > 	[Rei92] M. Reiser 
 > > 	     The Oberon System; User Guide and Programmer's Manual 
 > > 	     Addison-Wesley, 1992, ISBN 0-201-54422-9
 > > 
 > > 	[WiG92] N. Wirth and J. Gutknecht 
 > > 	     Project Oberon - The Design of an Operating System and
Compiler 
 > > 	     Addison-Wesley, 1992, ISBN 0-201-54428-8
 > > 
 > > 	[WiR94] N. Wirth and M. Reiser 
 > > 	     Programmieren in Oberon - Das neue Pascal 
 > > 	     Addison-Wesley, 1994, ISBN 3-89319-657-9 - 
 > > 	     Translated into German by J. Templ. 
 > > 
 > > 	Shortly after Wirth's retirement in April this year. I don't know
if
 > > 	this was done by AWL in arrangement with ACM, but I think this is
 > > 	abashing (don't know if this is the correct english word, I'm not
a
 > > 	native speaker) since Wirth has done pioneering work, which was
 > > 	accomplished by several organizations (see the inlcuded selected
list 
 > > 	of honors, taken from: http://www.inf.ethz.ch/~wirth/):
 > > 
 > > 
 > > 	Selected Honours
 > > 
 > > 	     ACM, A. M. Turing Award (1984) 
 > > 	     IEEE Computer Society, Computer Pioneer Award (1988) 
 > > 	     IBM Europe Science and Technology Prize 1988 (1989) 
 > > 	     Member, Swiss Academy of Engineering, 1992 
 > > 	     Foreign Associate, US Academy of Engieering, 1994 
 > > 	     Orden Pour le merite, 1996. 
 > > 	     Honorary Doctorates: 
 > > 	          University of York, England, 1978 
 > > 	          Ecole Polytechnique Federale, Lausanne, Switzerland,
1978 
 > > 	          Laval University, Quebec, Canada, 1987 
 > > 	          Johannes Kepler Universitaet Linz, Austria, 1993 
 > > 	          University of Novosibirsk, Russia, 1996 
 > > 	          The Open University, England, 1997 
 > > 	          University of Pretoria, South Africa, 1998
 > > 
 > > 
 > > 	Now my question: Who is responsible at ACM for such a decision> 
 > > 	(if the series was dropped by AWL in arrangement with ACM), or
 > > 	how can this step be taken back, if it is in the interest of
 > > 	ACM to keep this series.
 > > 
 > > 	Thanks in advance for your advise 
 > > 	-- 
 > > 	    Bernhard Treutwein             Tel. +49-89-5996-642, Fax -615
 > > 	    Institut f. Med. Psychologie  Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet
 > > 	    bernhard{([at]})nowhere.xy > > 	    --------------------------------  ---------------------------
 > > 	    C is its own virus
 > 
 > From bernhard Fri Sep 24 10:32:31 1999
 > To: jono{([at]})nowhere.xy > Subject: RE: The Oberon Series
 > Content-Length: 1431
 > X-Lines: 34
 > Status: RO
 > 
 > Dear Jono Hardjowirogo,
 > 
 > thanks for your kind reply included below. 
 > 
 > Do I understand you correctly that ACM's digital library will be
 > enhanced by books (currently I find only journals, citations and
 > proceedings). Will these be available only to ACM members or
 > also to everyone interested ?
 > 
 > thanks again
 > 
 >     Bernhard Treutwein             Tel. +49-89-5996-642, Fax -615
 >     Institut f. Med. Psychologie  Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet
 >     bernhard{([at]})nowhere.xy >     --------------------------------  ---------------------------
 > 
 > 
 > > From jono{([at]})nowhere.xy > [...]
 > > 
 > > Unfortunately, all the Oberon series of books were put out of print
 > > because they no longer sells. So, it was done for economic reason
more
 > > than anything else. Interests in the Oberon project are no longer
as
 > > strong as they were once, so, we felt that it was time to retire
the
 > > books from the active list.
 > > 
 > > I do agree with you assessment that the project was of a monumental
 > > importance to computer science. For this reason, I am looking to
have
 > > those books scanned and made available in their entireties on the
ACM
 > > website. This way, future programmers who are looking for materials
on
 > > Oberon can simply take a look or download the materials in which
they
 > > are interested. I am not sure when we can have this affected as it
does
 > > involve some logistical issues from our side.
 > > 
 > 
 > From bernhard Fri Sep 24 10:38:22 1999
 > To: jono{([at]})nowhere.xy > Subject: RE: The Oberon Series (addendum)
 > Content-Length: 645
 > X-Lines: 15
 > Status: RO
 > 
 > 
 > I forgot to mention that I have already scanned (& OCR'ed) chapter
 > 14 of Reiser's Oberon System and got the permission to use it for
 > documentation purposes. Getting the permission was an awful
experience
 > of getting handed from ACM (Deborah Cotton) via several stages to
 > Pearson during several months.
 > 
 > Maybe others in the (small) Oberon community would be volunteer ...
 > 
 > regards
 > 
 >     Bernhard Treutwein             Tel. +49-89-5996-642, Fax -615
 >     Institut f. Med. Psychologie  Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet
 >     bernhard{([at]})nowhere.xy >     --------------------------------  ---------------------------
 > 
 > From jono{([at]})nowhere.xy > [...]
 > From: Jono Hardjowirogo <jono{([at]})nowhere.xy > [...]
 > Subject: RE: The Oberon Series
 > Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 09:02:48 -0400
 > [...]
 > 
 > Prof Treutwein,
 > 
 > Most likely they will be available to everyone, not just ACM members.
 > 
 > Sincerely,
 > 
 > Jono Hardjowirogo
 > 
 > > -----Original Message-----
 > > From:	bernhard{([at]})nowhere.xy[SMTP:bernhard{([at]})nowhere.xy > > Sent:	Friday, September 24, 1999 4:33 AM
 > > To:	jono{([at]})nowhere.xy > > Subject:	RE: The Oberon Series
 > > 
 > > Dear Jono Hardjowirogo,
 > > 
 > > thanks for your kind reply included below. 
 > > 
 > > Do I understand you correctly that ACM's digital library will be
 > > enhanced by books (currently I find only journals, citations and
 > > proceedings). Will these be available only to ACM members or
 > > also to everyone interested ?
 > > 
 > > thanks again
 > > 
 > >     Bernhard Treutwein             Tel. +49-89-5996-642, Fax -615
 > >     Institut f. Med. Psychologie  Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet
 > >     bernhard{([at]})nowhere.xy > >     --------------------------------  ---------------------------
 > > 
 > > 
 > > > From jono{([at]})nowhere.xy > > [...]
 > > > 
 > > > Unfortunately, all the Oberon series of books were put out of
print
 > > > because they no longer sells. So, it was done for economic reason
more
 > > > than anything else. Interests in the Oberon project are no longer
as
 > > > strong as they were once, so, we felt that it was time to retire
the
 > > > books from the active list.
 > > > 
 > > > I do agree with you assessment that the project was of a
monumental
 > > > importance to computer science. For this reason, I am looking to
have
 > > > those books scanned and made available in their entireties on the
ACM
 > > > website. This way, future programmers who are looking for
materials on
 > > > Oberon can simply take a look or download the materials in which
they
 > > > are interested. I am not sure when we can have this affected as
it does
 > > > involve some logistical issues from our side.
 > > > 
 > 
 > From jono{([at]})nowhere.xy > [...]
 > From: Jono Hardjowirogo <jono{([at]})nowhere.xy > [...]
 > Subject: RE: The Oberon Series (addendum)
 > Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 09:09:32 -0400
 > [...]
 > 
 > Prof. Treutwein,
 > 
 > Sorry for your experience. Often after such an experience one would
be
 > more sympathetic to those who pirate works out of frustration. I have
 > on occasion spent months tracking rights of a work that's not even as
 > important as Oberon.
 > 
 > Thank you for your offer for the use of the Oberon community. When
the
 > time comes, I may want to contact you for this purpose.
 > 
 > Sincerely,
 > 
 > Jono Hardjowirogo
 > 
 > > -----Original Message-----
 > > From:	bernhard{([at]})nowhere.xy[SMTP:bernhard{([at]})nowhere.xy > > Sent:	Friday, September 24, 1999 4:38 AM
 > > To:	jono{([at]})nowhere.xy > > Subject:	RE: The Oberon Series (addendum)
 > > 
 > > 
 > > I forgot to mention that I have already scanned (& OCR'ed) chapter
 > > 14 of Reiser's Oberon System and got the permission to use it for
 > > documentation purposes. Getting the permission was an awful
experience
 > > of getting handed from ACM (Deborah Cotton) via several stages to
 > > Pearson during several months.
 > > 
 > > Maybe others in the (small) Oberon community would be volunteer ...
 > > 
 > > regards
 > > 
 > >     Bernhard Treutwein             Tel. +49-89-5996-642, Fax -615
 > >     Institut f. Med. Psychologie  Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet
 > >     bernhard{([at]})nowhere.xy > >     --------------------------------  ---------------------------
 > 
 >
Received on Tue Nov 02 1999 - 11:07:50 UTC

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