Seminar # 2 Digital environment properties &Electronic literary text features

 

by Agulyarnaya Milena POM-21

Interpreter Initiative: Many early works of electronic literature created in extinct hardware or software systems can best be preserved by programming interpreters (and/or emulators) that run the works on new computers "as if" they were in their original environment. It’s proposed to develop open source interpreters to "run" important or populous categories of e-lit so as speedily to restore large numbers of older works to readable status. Secondary priorities include the development of additional interpreters (including high-priority but technically challenging ones), assisting open-source communities working on relevant emulators, and creating supporting documents and services for software interpreters.

Щеголев Максим POM-21

The strategy for migration - to interpret or emulate electronic literature.

Since there are early works of electronic literature that were created in extinct hardware or software systems, they can be preserved by programming interpreters that represent the works on “new computers "as if" they were in their original environment”.

The strategies for interpreting or emulating electronic literature include:

1)     "per-work" techniques (porting and reimplementing). Porting involves converting the source code of an electronic literature work. Reimplementing involves writing a new program that does the same thing as the original program.

2)     per-category" techniques (interpreting and emulating proper). Interpreting is the approach of developing a free, open source interpreter that applies to those works that run in an interpreter of some sort. The benefits of this approach are that the number of works per interpreter approaches one. Emulating proper is the approach that deals with the development of an emulator -  a program that effectively implements a hardware computer in software.

by Ukolova A., POm-21

One strategy for migration is to interpret or emulate electronic literature so that works now difficult or impossible to read can be experienced once more in a form as functionally like the original as possible.

These strategies may be grouped under the rubrics of "per-work" techniques (porting and reimplementing) and "per-category" techniques (interpreting and emulating proper), where the former method targets individual works and the latter classes of works.

Pre-work:

Porting works directly - Porting involves converting the source code of an electronic literature work

Reimplementing involves writing a new program that does the same thing as the original program/

The highest priority is to develop a set of open source (GNU GPL, "General Public License") interpreters for important kinds of electronic literature. (Assisting open source communities in creating emulators is also important, but a lesser priority.) Such a development effort will have the benefit of a near-term payoff that will immediately make accessible a large number of important early e-lit works. Front loading development in this way will be important in winning acceptance for e-lit preservation efforts among stakeholder communities and funding organizations 

by Ivleva A. POM-21