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About the survival of our Data ( when Apps die )
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Posted by Andy Brice
Jun 9, 2025 at 06:38 PM
Ps/ Nothing lasts forever. Even the sun is going to burn out, eventually.
Posted by Amontillado
Jun 9, 2025 at 06:44 PM
I think I’d add Devonthink to the list of future proof, or at least future tolerant, apps. At first glance, it looks like everything disappears into a proprietary database. In reality, the database file is a Mac package, which is to say it’s a normal directory perceived as a single unit by the Finder. Inside the package (directory) all your documents are there in original form, somewhat similar to an Obsidian vault.
You lose the groups, but not the documents, if you don’t have Devonthink.
Devonthink makes its own folder hierarchy, which is how it handles duplicate names in a group.
If you want to keep the groups, export your database as files and folders or as a web site as part of your backup rituals.
I like Curio. It would be tougher, I think, to extract information from it without the app. A long time ago, I took an export from Curio and converted it to an Aeon Timeline-friendly import file. It didn’t take much. I put Aeon fields like Arc, Observer, and Participant in Curio note attachments. That’s a nice Curio feature. Anything can have a note attachment.
Nisus surprised me. It’s been catatonic for months without any communication from the company. You can still buy it through automated systems. Customer support is unreachable. Fortunately, Nisus documents, while not standard RTF, are standard enough any word processor can read them.
Scrivener should be considered pretty much future proof. There’s an XML file describing how everything relates, and then all the documents, index cards, etc., are either plain text or RTF. Creating a legit Scrivener project without access to Scrivener isn’t all that hard. The XML file and inner structure makes perfect sense, and Literature and Latte has a developer’s document they give out to anyone who’s interested.
Mellel (Mac word processor) has a proprietary native document format, sort of. It’s a zip file. BBEdit will directly open Mellel documents.
Images are in the zip file in original form. The document itself is in an XML file, easily interpreted by guesswork, with all content in plain text. Although some minimal effort is required, it doesn’t take much to get the important parts out of a Mellel document without using Mellel. I’d call it future proof.
If an app uses standard things, like XML, or if data is in any easily discernible format, I’d call it future proof. Everything doesn’t have to be pure plain text.
Posted by Amontillado
Jun 9, 2025 at 06:49 PM
Andy Brice wrote:
Ps/ Nothing lasts forever. Even the sun is going to burn out,
>eventually.
This was a scary thought. Then I checked.
Finding a running computer might be tough after Sol wheezes out, but Easy Data Transform itself is software. It’s not solar powered.
We’re good.
Posted by Daly de Gagne
Jun 9, 2025 at 11:19 PM
I still miss Ariadne which was a compact, elegant (for its time) progam. I sometimes wonder what it would be today if someone breathed new life into it.
Posted by Daly de Gagne
Jun 9, 2025 at 11:27 PM
By the way, what about Pocket’s planned demise? I have thousands of items which will need to be transferred.
I am wondering what program to use as a Pocket replacement. Any suggestions? FWIW I am looking at Readwise and Readise’s Reader.
Are there better options,
Thanks.
Daly