>Most of these versions can no longer be found anywhere on the Internet. If you did not have the foresight to save them, you no longer have access to them. As far as you are concerned, they are gone forever.
I don't particularly care about ancient Linux ISOs, but I bet they're some of the best archived files on the internet.
And beyond that, the hobbyist archivists are on top of that. Many people act on the joke that their torrents are all Linux isos, and the other hoarders are going to save things they use like a Linux iso.
Hell, I'd bet every one listed is on the internet archive. And if not, the author could quickly fix the issue.
I don't particularly care about ancient Linux ISOs, but I bet they're some of the best archived files on the internet.
For a start, larger distros do maintain archives. Here's Debian's and Arch's https://cdimage.debian.org/mirror/cdimage/archive/ https://archive.archlinux.org/iso/
And beyond that, the hobbyist archivists are on top of that. Many people act on the joke that their torrents are all Linux isos, and the other hoarders are going to save things they use like a Linux iso.
Hell, I'd bet every one listed is on the internet archive. And if not, the author could quickly fix the issue.