Dead link! Can you help?

modified: 4 April 2005

Occasionally when reviewing my pages I find a link that no longer works. If I can't find a new link or an archive, I may post a note saying

"Dead link! Can you help?"

with a link to the page you are reading now.

I don't like to remove a link to a site that may contain valuable information immediately when I find I can't access it -- sometimes the problem is temporary, and the site becomes accessible again hours, days, or even months later.

Often I will have tried at least one of the techniques I've mentioned in the Web Archives: Finding Lost Sites and Pages article on my site, but unless I am really highly motivated I may not have pursued all those options aggressively, so don't assume that everything I have mentioned there hasn't worked. Also, archive sites may not be completely up-to-date, something I tried unsuccessfully a while ago might work today.

So... the rationale for this page: this is a request for your help. If I am wrong about a site being inaccessible, please tell me. And please send me any information you dig up that might help others find something that seems to be lost. Send me e-mail with information about links to archive sites or renamed pages, or e-mail addresses where an author might be reachable.

Also, I suspect some of you with a serious interest in Minix may have done what I do when I run across something really interesting -- you may have archived some files yourselves. If you have any such files I would be pleased to post either a link to your site or to post a copy that you send me on my own site, assuming, of course, that it is legitimate to do so (see my copying policy page).