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[fitsbits] once FITS always FITS
On Tuesday 21 August 2007 19:10, Steve Allen wrote:
A question for those who have been around longer than I: Does "once FITS always FITS" mean I'm may not fully qualify but for me the point was archiving data in FITS format. That is, if one at a certain moment writes a data file in FITS format one should be able to read it N years after with a standard reader without problems. This would come close to * Anything ever explicitly allowed can never be disallowed It is almost impossible to write a standard which cannot be victim of marginal interpretations (FITS being no exception). Thus, one should not disallow something which have been in frequent use. Bordercases where the standard has been stretched an unreasonable amount must be considered individually. If it is clearly against common interpretation a clarification (as in the NOST documents) is necessary. In conclusion, changes should be backwards compatible i.e. not invalidate old files. This is my main concern with respect to FITS versions and the like (e.g. using the data of writing as a flag for what is allowed or not). Preben |
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