Long-term computing platforms for preservation and reproducibility

Ascertain what computing hardware platforms are likely to exist over 15- to 200-year horizons to inform strategies for the long-term dissemination, preservation, and reproducibility of computationally mediated astrophysics knowledge.

Background

The author argues for the centrality of the traditional literature in preserving astrophysical knowledge and provenance, noting that software and hardware environments change unpredictably over long timescales.

This explicit uncertainty about future computing platforms motivates reliance on durable publication media, while recognizing practical challenges for sustaining reproducibility over decades or centuries.

References

Nothing we have has the track record that the traditional journals do for long-term dissemination and preservation of knowledge; we don't know what computing hardware platforms we will have in 15 years, let alone 200, but I can pretty-much guarantee that---if human civilization is still in existence---we will still be able to read Vera Rubin's papers about the dark matter (for example, ).

— Why do we do astrophysics?  (2602.10181 - Hogg, 10 Feb 2026) in Astrophysics is (roughly) the astrophysics literature