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Ask HN: Best way to host a website for 500 years?

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Re: Ask HN: Best way to host a website for 500 years?

#591

Post by cushychicken »

zarmin wrote: post #459
cstross wrote: post #336

The world wide web is only 28 years old. We've had computers for 76 years at this point. We're discussing this topic in modern English, but if you look back 500 years William Shakespeare wouldn't be born for another couple of generations: vocabulary and grammar have changed a lot since then, and if you look back a further 500 years (to 1021AD) the "English" spoken in those days was a lot closer to Frisian than anythi…

Maybe a better question is, what would HTML have looked like in the time of Shakespeare? Forsooth!

This is the best HN comment I've seen in a while, ha!

Re: Ask HN: Best way to host a website for 500 years?

#593

Post by shireboy »

Who knows what the next 500 years will bring in terms of communication. I know some artists have experimented with aircraft grade aluminum and titanium as a medium for long-lived artwork.

If I had to do something digital today, it would probably involve prepaying Amazon Glacier https://aws.amazon.com/s3/glacier/ and faster s3 for as long as possible, then whatever long term plans I could muster for continuation- a foundation or trust of some sort?

Re: Ask HN: Best way to host a website for 500 years?

#594

Post by Aeolun »

bccdee wrote: post #551
marcosdumay wrote: post #411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see no technical reason for why we can't create some e-reader that will keep your library much safer for much longer than paper. I see no reason why we can't make some that last for a millennium, if the power supply and storage aren't included and it's kept off in some dry place, out of the Sun's light and never overheat. But well, there is no demand for tech that will last for a millennium. In fact, people are pus…

Electronics aren't that sturdy. Hard drives demagnetize, solid-state storage decays, and there's always the chance that a stray cosmic ray will fry something. Even if we could construct something that sturdy: After a millennium, how would anyone know how to operate it? Would we include an instruction manual? Printed on what sort of paper? Microengravings on metal plates [1] will be more durable than electronics could…

> After a millennium, how would anyone know how to operate it

Same way they know now. Humans will still be humans. If my 3 year old son can figure out how my e-reader works from nothing, so can future humans.

Re: Ask HN: Best way to host a website for 500 years?

#595

Post by marcosdumay »

bccdee wrote: post #551
marcosdumay wrote: post #411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see no technical reason for why we can't create some e-reader that will keep your library much safer for much longer than paper. I see no reason why we can't make some that last for a millennium, if the power supply and storage aren't included and it's kept off in some dry place, out of the Sun's light and never overheat. But well, there is no demand for tech that will last for a millennium. In fact, people are pus…

Electronics aren't that sturdy. Hard drives demagnetize, solid-state storage decays, and there's always the chance that a stray cosmic ray will fry something. Even if we could construct something that sturdy: After a millennium, how would anyone know how to operate it? Would we include an instruction manual? Printed on what sort of paper? Microengravings on metal plates [1] will be more durable than electronics could…

Program once memory is quite resistant, and of course, plain old ROM is a rock, literally. Transistors do not deteriorate unless you use them, just like resistors and a lot of the available capacitors.

On how to operate it, it's an e-reader, you turn it on there's the manual there. There is the really difficult part of telling people "put 12V DC here, ground on the outside", but it's trivial compared to the problem of people understanding the books inside.

Re: Ask HN: Best way to host a website for 500 years?

#596

Post by wizzwizz4 »

danans wrote: post #544
lovecg wrote: post #536

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re onto something here. Organized religions are some of the very few institutions that survived for thousands of years with little change.

> Organized religions are some of the very few institutions that survived for thousands of years with little change. Which organized religion are you referring to here? All the big ones have changed immensely.

At least, the Torah has survived with minimal change.

Re: Ask HN: Best way to host a website for 500 years?

#597

Post by blondin »

cstross wrote: post #336

The world wide web is only 28 years old. We've had computers for 76 years at this point. We're discussing this topic in modern English, but if you look back 500 years William Shakespeare wouldn't be born for another couple of generations: vocabulary and grammar have changed a lot since then, and if you look back a further 500 years (to 1021AD) the "English" spoken in those days was a lot closer to Frisian than anythi…

great answer to a very interesting question!

for inspiration on how to preserve things for future generations we may look at religion.

Re: Ask HN: Best way to host a website for 500 years?

#598

Post by bricemo »

The Long Now Foundation has spent a lot of time thinking about this. They have designed and implemented clocks built to last 10,000 years. I doubt anyone else has spent as much time and effort solving this problem, so I’d suggest something similar: https://longnow.org/clock/

Re: Ask HN: Best way to host a website for 500 years?

#599

Post by RustyConsul »

danans wrote: post #544
lovecg wrote: post #536

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re onto something here. Organized religions are some of the very few institutions that survived for thousands of years with little change.

> Organized religions are some of the very few institutions that survived for thousands of years with little change. Which organized religion are you referring to here? All the big ones have changed immensely.

Just because religions go through major institutional changes, since they are in fact very human at their core, you have to give some credit to the fact we are still talking about Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad.

Re: Ask HN: Best way to host a website for 500 years?

#600

Post by malthuswaswrong »

NoGravitas wrote: post #155

Print it out on acid-free paper with a stable, acid-free ink. Have it bound as a hardback, and seal it into a waterproof container. Entrust it to one of your children, tell them to keep it in a safe-deposit box and take it out once a year to share with their children, and to pass it on to their children with the same instructions. If you have it electronically, the absolute best case in 500 years is that it will be a…

You are better off with microfiche.
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