Museo dell'Informatica Funzionante
Laboratory museum of the history of computing with restored, working historic computers; visits by reservation.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The Museo dell’Informatica Funzionante was founded in 1994 on an idea of Gabriele “asbesto” Zaverio, initially as a simple collection of old computers to be reused, and later as the subject of wider study within the Freaknet Medialab in Catania. With the contribution of hacker groups such as Dyne.org and Poetry Hacklab, the idea became a real museum, run entirely by volunteers.
The museum collects obsolete hardware, restores it and puts it back into operation to preserve the history of computing, together with original media and documentation. Some historic machines are networked and accessible online, including Digital VAX/VMS and PDP-11 systems, Sun, Silicon Graphics and IBM RS/6000 machines, which take part in the first Italian amateur DECnet network.
From June 2026 the museum reopens to visits by reservation in the form of a hacklab and a permanent repair and restoration workshop. A traditional exhibition is not planned because the space is limited, but visitors can watch the work in progress and use historic consoles and computers.
Highlights
- Restored, working historic computers
- Digital VAX/VMS and PDP-11 systems
- Historic consoles and computers to try out
- Electronics and restoration workshop
- Historic machines accessible online
Permanent exhibition
- Computer storici e laboratorio di restauro – Restored, working computers, consoles and historic systems, with an electronics workshop and cataloguing activities.
- Founded
- 1994
- Operated by
- Associazione culturale Freaknet
- Visitors per year
- approx. 40
Admission & discounts
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Accessibility
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Kids & families
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Getting there & parking
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Amenities & dining
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Events & venue rental
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Plan your visit
| Good to know | As the museum is run by a few volunteers, visits are arranged by e-mail. There is no traditional exhibition: visitors can watch repair and restoration work and play with historic consoles and computers. A second site exists in Rende (Cosenza). |
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