Fearing the world will have an apocalypse, GitHub buried its entire warehouse under the Arctic

Using classic archive film technology, GitHub’s open source software data can last for up to 1,000 years in this repository.

The sad truth is that the world we live in can end at any time – terrifying destructive weapons, escalating political tensions, climate change or even a celestial mass. Jellies can fall down and destroy the world at any time.

If that time of apocalypse happens, what will come with the vast amount of data that records people’s lives every day for decades? If the open source platform of GitHub code sets does something to preserve one of the legacies of this era, they will securely store them at the ends of the Earth.

At the Universe Developer Conference two days ago, GitHub announced its Archive Program – with plans to preserve all of its open source software for future generations. .

To do so, this data block will be stored continuously in many formats as well as at many different locations, including in Arctic World Archive, a cellar hidden 250m deep under an Arctic mountain in Svalbard. Not far from the Doomsday seed cellar is also not far away.

The scenery outside this data warehouse – this place used to be a coal mine.

Data will be stored on film rolls coated with iron oxide powder. It can be read by a computer – or in the event of a global power outage – with a magnifying glass. More importantly, this film can last for 1,000 years, even 2,000 years under the conditions of lack of oxygen and cold like under this cave.

The first data saved is the source code for the Android and Linux operating systems, as well as many programming languages, web platforms, cryptocurrencies and AI tools, totaling over 6,000 open source applications. other importance. GitHub is planning to host all of their public repositories by February 2020.

Each film is packed with a white plastic box as above with about 120GB capacity per roll. GitHub needs about 200 rolls to save its entire repository.

This data block will be located next to digital preserved documents of countries around the world, including works of art, music, scientific breakthroughs, manuscripts. History and archaeological findings. In the event of an apocalypse, these data can be used to help rebuild society globally.

If not, it will at least act as a time cocoon, keeping the values ​​of today. Don’t forget that just 20 years ago, open source was still just an interesting idea – but now the whole world is operating on it. Who knows what technology will look like in 1,000 years compared to today?

Source : GenK