Gerhard Fiedler wrote:
> M.L. wrote:
>
>  =20
>> Commonly used F/OSS RCS is going to be locatable 25 years from now.
>>    =20
>
> Whenever people make predictions that far into the future, I try to
> think that far back -- and it always ends the same way: what people
> thought 25 ago about what would happen 25 years later isn't necessarily
> a good match with what is happening today. I extrapolate this to today
> and think that what we'll have in 25 years won't necessarily be what
> people (including me) today think it will be.
>  =20
That is true, OTOH we can still run software for BBC micros in emulation.
> >From that, I derive the simple rule: When you have archives that you
> want to be able to read in the future, keep around what you need to read
> them -- be that FOSS, OSS, CSS, FS, OSes, drives, whole computers,
> whatever. And do try to read it in regular intervals to make sure it all
> still works.
>  =20
IMO if a digital archive is important you should have a "state of the=20
archive" session at least every few years where you

1: check that all copies of the media (you did make multiple copies=20
right,,,) are still readable and make more copies and/or copies on newer=20
media or filing systems if appropriate.
2: check that the systems you have in place for reading/wokring with the=20
individual files are still functional and likely to continue=20
functioning. In particular reliance on old hardware should be avoided if=20
at all possible since it can die at any time and may be difficult to=20
fix/replace.

By doing this every few years you should hopefully be able to fix issues=20
before they become too serious to deal with.

> Gerhard
>  =20

--=20
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