![[xkcd 1683] Digital Data](https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/pictrs/image/6b5b434e-7bdc-4025-b04d-21e700d25079.webp){kind=link}
- cross-posted to:
- 196@lemmy.blahaj.zone
- cross-posted to:
- 196@lemmy.blahaj.zone
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/36672698
Source: https://xkcd.com/1683/
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/36672698
Source: https://xkcd.com/1683/
Storing data for decades or even centuries is a difficult thing. But the problem isn’t the storage it’s the data format!
Who knows if a person 300 years from now has a program that can open .png or .jpg? Or the dreaded .doc and .xls that even Microsoft has problems with today. This poor future fellow probably won’t have the capatibilities and might need a few years or decades to develop a reader app.
You could archive a description of the file format alongside the files. Maybe a pseudocode implementation too, or actual code (although who knows which programming languages will exist 300 years from now).
The US Library of Congress recommends archiving data in SQLite databases, since it’s a simple, well-documented format, SQLite is public domain, and SQLite devs have promised to support it for a long time and retain backwards compatibility indefinitely.
CSV and TSV are okay too of course, but it’s often much easier to deal with large datasets if they’re in an actual database format.
.txt ftw