I was wondering, is there any problem with people creating their own mIRC archive of previous versions?

The reason I ask is I have been maintaining an archive of mIRC versions on a website I maintain. I don't get any money from the archive. I simply maintain it for fun, nostalgia, convenience and because I recommend using mIRC to my moderators as well as regular chatters.

I haven't posted it's location publicly since I don't want a flood of people coming to it when a new version is released. However, I don't discourage people from using the archive. One of the reasons I maintain it is I help run an IRC channel and mIRC is the recommended IRC client for using with Windows.

Anyway, I was wondering if there's anyone who objects to my keeping an archive of past versions going back to mIRC v2.1a (16-bit). I don't know if there were any versions before that one. I'm hoping that my archive doesn't offend anyone. If there is a problem I'd appreciate someone letting me know through this forum post or private message through this forum.

I can't give you an official response, but my guess is that as long as you are providing the installers for those versions and not just a copy of the files themselves, then it's probably fine.

I'm providing them as I found them. I didn't alter them, didn't take anything away nor add to them.

I acquired this collection from the following websites:
Old Version: http://www.oldversion.com/mIRC.html
and
mIRC Scripts: http://www.mircscripts.com/old/
(http://www.mircscripts.com seems to be a dead link now though).

The rest of them are from me collecting them on my own and gathering release data from 'versions.txt' and these forums. So, I hope things are in proper order.

The archive can contain any files you want except mIRC.exe

If it's the installers, mIRC.exe isn't a problem.

Indeed, but I never seen a mIRC installer called "mirc.exe"

Ok, sounds like I'm in the clear.

I might as well just let everyone see the archive in case anyone wants to see it. Perhaps some may want to bookmark it in the event someone wants it as a resource.

http://paranormal-chats.com/software/mirc/

I've tried to make it as clean and simple as possible. The website's main purpose is not to act as an archive for mIRC but since I'm already doing it, I wanted to at least give it a nice appearance.

http://mirc.net/mirc.php

Seems to have all of the previous versions up until 7.1...

Thanks, it's good to know there's another partial archive around. It's too bad they didn't continue the list. I intend to keep mine updated as new versions become available even if mine is mostly an unknown resource.

I have an archive, also...except mine is on a cd-rw in a drawer, next to archives other programs I use. I use them mostly for compatibility purposes...I even have an old x386 computer with mirc installed that I fire up once in a while...

The EULA says you can redistribute mIRC as long as you don't modify it and contact Khaled:



In other words, the official response is: email Khaled and ask.

Practically speaking, though, there are at least a few existing sites that archive old versions of mIRC... and I don't think they got explicit authorization from Khaled-- but I cannot confirm this-- just a feeling I get. Frankly, I'm not even sure how strong a redistribution clause is in the license agreement to begin with, given that you are simply making something available which was freely obtained (free as in freedom, not $$$) on a website. If archive.org is allowed to redistribute html pages from old websites, the same freedom should apply to anything else downloaded from those sites. I'm no lawyer, though.

I would assume that the general rule of thumb is: (1) don't misrepresent mIRC, (2) don't modify the redistributables, (3) take the site down if Khaled asks you to. If you follow those steps, I don't think you should have anything to worry about. Khaled has historically been pretty accepting of people redistributing mIRC as long as they were doing so with good intentions.