Let's develop an open-source media archive standard

Vintage> Ok, instead of all the unproductive bickering over semantics Vintage> (most of which is illogical...come on, admit it) I'd rather Vintage> we actually discuss developing further an open-source, Vintage> public domain, free (in every sense of the word) standard Vintage> for archiving data media of all types (magentic, paper, or Vintage> otherwise). Vintage> This is basically going to be a continuation of what we've Vintage> already discussed on the list, and what Hans and I have Vintage> discussed in private. Vintage> First, let's start with the goals. When you say "archiving" what span of time do you mean? A year? A decade? A century? Longer? You will get completely different answers depending on how you answer that question. (See also www.longnow.org) paul