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On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 21:20:12 +0100 Paul Sutton <zleap@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Jonathan Roberts wrote: > > I would also make it clear the proprietary formats don't garuntee that > > you'll always be able to read documents produced in it: if Microsoft > > decided to end support for .doc > > that would really screw anyone up whos spend hours putting together a > time capsule to be dug up in 100 years time, as people then won't have > the ability to read the files, where as with open formats, the spec > can be included in plain asc text, so computers in 100 years can > perhaps still read these open format files. 100 years could be ambitious Paul - are we *really* sure that the forms of digital media that we have now will survive that long and even if they do, that we would have the equivalent of a gramophone today to be able to read them? File formats are one thing - hardware lifespans are quite another. -- Neil Williams ============= http://www.data-freedom.org/ http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/ http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/
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