Will my blog suvirvive me? Back it up with the Catholic Church!

Dave Winer talks about preserving your online legacy, like your blog, after you die. I see 2 important ingredients:

• Static html copies. Your blog and all that are probably dynamic sites, the only way I see those sites survive a long time is to make a static html copy of it. Databases, php scripts and so on just take too much maintenance, it's not doable. Anything static might loose some functionality (commenting), but it's easy to just keep on serving forever.
• Multiple copies, and to encourage that, CC license your content. A very open license will encourage multiple copies of your content. The only way to long-term survival in my mind are multiple copies. Think library of Alexandria - any server or company will die eventually.  

I think static HTML and multiple copies give your content the best chance to survive long-term. PS for Dave, blip.tv already has cross-posting to the Internet Archive, so set that up, cc license your movies and there's a much better chance your movies will survive for longer.

PS: if you want long-term institutions to back your backup service (I don't believe in a centralized backup service - they'll die too), why not go with the Catholic church? They've proven their sticky power :)

# Mar 2, 2007

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