ERCIM News 80  Image ERCIM News 80 cover page  January 2010
Special theme: Digital Preservation  This issue in pdf (64
pages; 15 Mb) Next issue January 2014 Next special theme: Linked
Open Data Call for the next issue Get the latest issue to your
desktop RSS Feed  Considering Software Preservation  by Brian
Matthews, Arif Shaon, Juan Bicarregui, Catherine Jones, Esther
Conway and Jim Woodcock  Software is a class of electronic
object which is by its very nature digital, and the preservation
of software is often a vital prerequisite to the preservation of
other electronic objects. However, software has many
characteristics that make preserving it substantially more
challenging than for many other types of digital object.
Software is inherently complex, normally composed of a very
large number of highly interdependent components and often
forbiddingly opaque for people other than those who were
directly involved in its development. Software is also highly
sensitive to its operating environment, with the typical