Paper‑printout Code Archaeology Matters

Old software often survives only on paper or low‑quality scans, so recovering computing history increasingly depends on human transcription, specialized preservation teams, and corporate cooperation to release provenance artifacts. That process exposes gaps in digital archiving (OCR weaknesses, single‑copy paper holdings) and raises questions about legal ownership, authenticity, and what counts as a 'source' for historical or forensic uses. — Shows that preserving software history requires active, funded archaeology and corporate transparency, which affects IP debates, historical truth, and digital infrastructure stewardship.