Re: Towards consensus on document format

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On Tue, 2010-03-16, Doug Ewell wrote:

> The other silly aspect of this "will it be readable in 1000 years" 
> argument is the supposition that the documents will sit, forgotten, for 
> 1000 years until some future archaeologist digs them up and wants to 
> decipher them.

> Obviously, if a newer and more wonderful format comes along that 
> obsoletes PDF or HTML or whatever, there will surely be a utility (or, 
> more likely, a spate of them) to convert data from the old format to the 
> new format.  The RFC series, and zillions of documents more valuable 
> than 80% of the RFC series, will be converted and will exist in both old 
> and new formats LONG before there is any risk of irreversible 
> obsolescence.

I am haunted by the reports I've heard of NASA plaintively requesting
*anybody* to provide them with a 7-track tape machine to allow them to read
old data tapes from the 1960's and 1970's.

Not so much 1000 years as 40 years!

-- 
Bill McQuillan <McQuilWP@xxxxxxxxx>

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