The MCA Mafia

About "Our Thing"...
World Wide MCA Mafia Banner

Content by Peter H. Wendt (original HERE). Edited by Tomáš Slavotínek.


Who Are We

We are a world-wide non-commercial group of enthusiasts who share their passion for IBM's PS/2 line, the Micro Channel Architecture (MCA), and other related hardware and software.

Our Goal

We offer help and support for owners of PS/2 machines. We want to keep the PS/2 machines up and running above the level of a museum item, which is only used for exhibition purposes. Our PS/2 machines shall be used in daily life, being powered up and running in useful tasks.

Where to Meet Us

The main forum is the CSIPH newsgroup, but you can find pages of our members all across the Internet.

See the Links page for more information.

Is There a Formal Membership?

No. This is a voluntary group, not a formal organization. Either you are in - or you're not.

Do We Sell Anything?

No. We don't have any product on the market.

Our help is in most cases of immaterial kind. We are willing to exchange knowledge, files, and in some cases - parts. Item exchange is always preferred over monetary compensation. While some members do run an official business and may sell PS/2 parts, these efforts are independent from the supportive nature of this group.

The members however agree to the common rules of proper business, which is a question of honor anyway.

Who We Are NOT

Criminals... from the most part.

The borders are a bit unclear to define. Some people may think that disassembling machines, their internals, their codes and the software running on them is already a criminal act - but we understand it as a method to learn more about these machines, which are no longer officially supported. In our understanding this is a form of adding more details for a better support, so our members are predestined to be busy with digging in the "secrets" of their machines to find clues for solving problems.

We do not consider this to be a criminal act.

Why "MCA Mafia"?

Because we are, in a way, one family.

The relations between the members of the group are often far over that of ordinary "fandom". We are sitting "in one boat" figuratively spoken after IBM left the support field and left us alone with our problems. It is the legal right of a company to give up a product line - no question - but there are still a large number of machines out... and also a large number of people being busy with them and still are interested in keeping them up. The idea of doing someone else in this group a favor rather than taking money is one of the base-lines of the concept. We cannot do the same commercial support that IBM did - and we don't want to to be true. Therefore the idea of voluntary information exchange and offering help outside the commercial paths is closer to the concept of "underground networks" and masonic organizations.

Hence "MCA Mafia".

Content created and/or collected by:
Louis F. Ohland, Peter H. Wendt, David L. Beem, William R. Walsh, Tatsuo Sunagawa, Tomáš Slavotínek, Jim Shorney, Tim N. Clarke, Kevin Bowling, and many others.

Ardent Tool of Capitalism is maintained by Tomáš Slavotínek.
Last update: 24 Mar 2024 - Changelog | About | Legal & Contact