Don't reinvent the wheel. If you are thinking in terms of centuries, look at the work done for software preservation (mostly through emulation). It is already t

Don't reinvent the wheel. If you are thinking in terms of centuries, look at the work done for software preservation (mostly through emulation). It is already the standard practice for digital libraries, the preservation of games, and much more. For some research: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=software+preservation https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=soft... The Bodleian Libraries have an excellent presentation on the subject: https://libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/digitalpreservation https://libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/digitalpreservation So, you basically design your software, and make sure there is an emulator that is able to impersonate the hardware you run it on.