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Rot may actually be useful by allowing out-dated, inaccurate, or useless information to be removed or fall into obscurity. Correct, useful, or noteworthy infor

Rot may actually be useful by allowing out-dated, inaccurate, or useless information to be removed or fall into obscurity. Correct, useful, or noteworthy information is often re-posted and copied, leading to preservation.

asdff 7y ago
It should still be at the discretion of the reader of what is correct and valid. In schools we are given the opportunity to learn how to critically think, vet sources, and how to seek out expert authorities on a matter (whether people practice these skills after their essay writing days are done is another can of worms). There is a lot of out of date material in libraries, for instance, but there is value in archives. Plus, who is going to copy a niche forum thread and repost it elsewhere? Most people just paste a link when they share information on the web, not clumsily copying and pasting full content. I bet whoever originally wrote that guide over a decade ago has no idea that it's rotted and useless. That information is gone unless someone knowledgeable spends their time crafting another guide, repeating the work that another already did a decade ago. There is value in archiving things beyond just relying on the small % of things that get actively reposted elsewhere. A good local caching solution of everything you've viewed on the web would be extremely useful for your personal reference, especially when sites frequently close and links die. If you really wanted to fantasize you could seed your cached site data using bittorrent to maintain a common web archive with everyone on the internet, free from a reliance of one lumbering archival corporate entity that might disappear on the whim of a VC or shareholder, free from commercial profiteering practices, free from the ad men and anyone else who's job it is to pollute and dilute technology for profit, and firmly in the hands of the users of the internet.

asdff 7y ago

It should still be at the discretion of the reader of what is correct and valid. In schools we are given the opportunity to learn how to critically think, vet sources, and how to seek out expert authorities on a matter (whether people practice these skills after their essay writing days are done is another can of worms). There is a lot of out of date material in libraries, for instance, but there is value in archives. Plus, who is going to copy a niche forum thread and repost it elsewhere? Most people just paste a link when they share information on the web, not clumsily copying and pasting full content. I bet whoever originally wrote that guide over a decade ago has no idea that it's rotted and useless. That information is gone unless someone knowledgeable spends their time crafting another guide, repeating the work that another already did a decade ago. There is value in archiving things beyond just relying on the small % of things that get actively reposted elsewhere. A good local caching solution of everything you've viewed on the web would be extremely useful for your personal reference, especially when sites frequently close and links die. If you really wanted to fantasize you could seed your cached site data using bittorrent to maintain a common web archive with everyone on the internet, free from a reliance of one lumbering archival corporate entity that might disappear on the whim of a VC or shareholder, free from commercial profiteering practices, free from the ad men and anyone else who's job it is to pollute and dilute technology for profit, and firmly in the hands of the users of the internet.