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For Infallible Records, the Vatican Wants Open Source

posted by martyb on Friday May 08 2015, @08:47AM   Printer-friendly
from the it-FITS-our-needs dept.

sigma writes:

The UK's V3 news site reports that the Vatican library considers open source file formats to be the only reliable way for humanity to preserve its history in the digital age.

Vatican Library CIO Luciano Ammenti said that, in order for the manuscripts to be readable, the Vatican Library opted for open source tools that do not require proprietary platforms, such as Microsoft Office, to be read.

"We save it as a picture as it's longer life than a file. You don't rely on PowerPoint or Word. In 50 years they can still just look at it," he said.

"Normally people try to use the TIFF format [when archiving]. This has several problems. It's not open source and it doesn't update. The last time was in 1998.

"On top of this it's 32-bit and not ready for 3D imaging, which limits the information it can preserve - what the script's made of etc. So instead we use the FITS format. FITS is open source, 64-bit, 3D ready and updated regularly. It gives all the information you need on the image."

What formats have you found best for archiving? Which have given you problems?

 
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  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 08 2015, @11:50AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 08 2015, @11:50AM (#180280)

    FITS is the "standard" in the astronomical community, largely for the reasons mentioned in the summary (open, 64 bit, etc.).

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 08 2015, @12:09PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 08 2015, @12:09PM (#180286)

    I would be surprised if the majority of readers of this site were astronomers.

    • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Friday May 08 2015, @06:25PM

      by aristarchus (2645) on Friday May 08 2015, @06:25PM (#180413) Journal

      I would be surprised if the majority of readers of this site were astronomers.

      Prepare to be surprised! (No, there is no way to know, but that does not mean it is not true. And besides, actual astronomers would lie, especially Galileo.)

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 08 2015, @12:34PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 08 2015, @12:34PM (#180294)

    largely for the reasons mentioned in the summary (open, 64 bit, etc.)

    Yeesh,
    No one tell Fat Phil [soylentnews.org].