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I think SQLite stands a better chance of still being readable in 30 years than many possible storage mechanisms, but I'd hedge my bets if I were you: Export th
by brennen 10y ago
I think SQLite stands a better chance of still being readable in 30 years than many possible storage mechanisms, but I'd hedge my bets if I were you: Export the SQL routinely, like pryelluw suggests, and make regular backups.
Other than that, it's hard to beat simple text formats for sheer longevity and future-proofness. You might well consider printouts of some core stuff if your goal is for the info to survive multiple decades. Whatever you do, document your own process while you're at it, so future you can figure out how to reassemble things if a software dependency shifts out from under you.
- avh02 10y agoNever thought about self-documenting the process - that's a good insight. regular backups, like you and pryelluw have mentioned is i guess the ultimate solution on this - probably enforce this with a pre-commit hook so that it's always up-to-date, easy to get lazy.
- jschwartzi 10y agoIf you have a lot of data that you're printing, choose a font that's easy to OCR, or consider using a 2D or 1D-stacked barcode symbology like QR Code or PDF417. PDF417, in particular, can be encoded with up to 50% redundancy and uses an open standard, plus its stacked nature makes it easy to scan with 1D and 2D scanners. It's likely to remain supported in a variety of devices for the foreseeable future. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF417 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF417 Information density is much higher with barcode than it is with simple text printed on paper, although you'll need a lot of time and some pretty sharp eyes to decode them without electronics.
- cm2187 10y agoSave it as a spreadsheet. Microsoft will keep publishing new versions of Excel every 2 years for the next 30 years, but you are guaranteed they will never change the format or add a single new feature over that period!