datahoarder

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We are digital librarians. Among us are represented the various reasons to keep data -- legal requirements, competitive requirements, uncertainty of permanence of cloud services, distaste for transmitting your data externally (e.g. government or corporate espionage), cultural and familial archivists, internet collapse preppers, and people who do it themselves so they're sure it's done right. Everyone has their reasons for curating the data they have decided to keep (either forever or For A Damn Long Time). Along the way we have sought out like-minded individuals to exchange strategies, war stories, and cautionary tales of failures.

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How to store digital files for posterity? (hundreds of years) (lemmy.eco.br)

submitted 7 months ago by Clinico@lemmy.eco.br to c/datahoarder@lemmy.ml

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How to store digital files for posterity? (hundreds of years)

I have some family videos and audios and I want to physically save them for posterity so that it lasts for periods like 200 years and more. This allows great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren to have access.

From the research I did, I found that the longest-lasting way to physically store digital content is through CD-R gold discs, but it may only last 100 years. From what I researched, the average lifespan of HDs and SSDs is no more than 10 years.

I came to the conclusion that the only way to ensure that the files really pass from generation to generation is to record them on CDs and distribute them to the family, asking them to make copies from time to time.

It's crazy to think that if there were suddenly a mass extinction of the human species, intelligent beings arriving on Earth in 1000 years would probably not be able to access our digital content. While cave paintings would probably remain in the same place.

What is your opinion?

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[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, I'd say at least every ten years I've replaced all my media. Hard drive failures, tape upgrades, physical media changes, tech just moves so quickly. Even if the media survives 100 years, will we still have the tech to read it?

[–] Flax_vert@feddit.uk 2 points 6 months ago

will we still have the tech to read it?

Probably, if VLC is still around.

Telnet still exists and you can still access a telnet server running on 40 year old hardware