Just Solve the Problem 2012
JUST SOLVE THE PROBLEM
"Just Solve the Problem" is 30 days dedicated to solving a problem, that just needs lots of bodies thrown at it. Jason Scott announced this idea in this weblog entry.
This is the 2012 Problem described from the entry:
In the last couple centuries, we’ve created a number of self-encapsulated data sets, or “files”. Be they letters, programs, tapes, stamped foil, piano rolls, you name it. And while many of those data sets are self- evident, a fuck-ton are not. They’re obscure. They’re weird. And worst of all, many of them are the vital link to scores of historical information.
Everyone knows this problem. It’s why old novelists cry they can’t pull their first novel out of Wordperfect. It’s why someone who used U-matic tapes to record the first meetings of a famous protest group goes “oh well”. It’s why, in all things, someone looks at anything older than five years, and goes “bye”, figuring there’s nothing they can do.
And I’ve had to listen to the mewings about this problem for at least 20 years now, in various forms. A lot. And then the person lights up about maybe solving this problem, and then dims and says “well, we can’t really solve the problem”. Because they know – it’d take an army of people to do it.
Let’s make that goddamned army.
Discussions or Essays about Just Solve the Problem 2012
- http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/3645 - Jason Scott's Original Post
- http://unsustainableideas.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/solve-file-format-problem/ - A Call to Arms, by Unsustainable Ideas
List of Places Keeping Track of Formats
- http://archivematica.org/preservation
- http://www.fileformat.info/
- http://www.ace.net.nz/tech/TechFileFormat.html
- http://wotsit.org/ (presently broken)
- http://unarchiver.c3.cx/formats
- http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/PRONOM/ Version-level format information on hundreds of formats, can be downloaded as XML (ask me for details AndyJackson 15:07, 2 July 2012 (EDT))
- http://wiki.multimedia.cx/
- http://archive.org/download/file-format-encyclopedia/fileformat.zip/
- http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/fdd/descriptions.shtml
- http://www.udfr.org/
- http://gitorious.org/re-lab Tools & specs from re-lab- graphics formats, and office formats
Other Useful Materials and Services
- http://www.nsrl.nist.gov/ National Software Reference Library (see also http://blogs.loc.gov/digitalpreservation/2012/05/life-saving-the-national-software-reference-library/)
- http://www.openplanetsfoundation.org/software/fido Format Identification for Digital Objects
- https://github.com/usnationalarchives/File-Analyzer File Analyzer
- http://sk1project.org/modules.php?name=products&product=uniconvertor UniConvertor is a universal vector graphics translator. It is a command line tool which uses sK1 object model to convert one format to another
- File Formats for Popular Personal Computer Software: A Programmer's Reference http://www.amazon.com/Formats-Popular-Personal-Computer-Software/dp/0471836710/ref=la_B001KE1CFC_1_1 - @KevinSavetz owns and can digitize this if needed
- More File Formats for Popular PC Software: A Programmer's Reference http://www.amazon.com/More-File-Formats-Popular-Software/dp/0471850772/ref=la_B001KE1CFC_1_2 - @KevinSavetz owns and can digitize this if needed