GitHub wants open source software resources to remain humanity forever. Literally. Repository officials presented the Arctic Code Vault project, under which the code snapshots will go to a secure crypt in the permafrost region of Svalbard in Norway.
The motivation of the website is that the key achievements of the open source environment survive any disaster, including technological regression. Therefore, the snapshots are to be saved on very unusual media. We are talking about a special Piql photosensitive tape, which, according to the manufacturer, can last from 500 to even 1000 years.
The Piql tape was created by the European Union for long-term data archiving. GitHub will use rollers longer than 1 km.
Linux and Android immortal
The list of sources to be stored is really long. Includes Linux and Android operating systems as well as Python, Ruby and Rust programming languages. In addition, there are Node, V8, React and Angular internet platforms, Bitcoin and Etherum cryptocurrencies, and key AI tools such as TensorFlow and FastAI. They will go to the crypt on February 2, 2020, saved on the aforementioned Piql tapes.
Later, GitHub plans to add more public repositories and files to the clipboard. Yes, to restore the entire content of the site, excluding binaries larger than 100 KB. Added to this is data on the history of selected European regions.
Microsoft's timeless media
– To increase data density and integrity, most of them will be stored as a QR code. A human-readable index and guide will detail the location of each repository and explain how to recover data – says Kyle Daigle, Special Projects Manager at GitHub. – We are happy that our resources will be stored in the Svalbard archive and preserved for future generations – he states.
At the same time, as we can learn from a representative, this whole project is not only historical. Is part of Microsoft's work on long-term data storage. Just like the quartz glass carrier presented at Ignite 2019, which the film hit Super-man.