Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations.
Software in source code form is produced by humans and is understandable by them; as such it is an important part of our heritage that we should not lose. Software is furthermore a key enabler for preserving other parts of our cultural heritage that we would de facto lose if we lose the software needed to access them. Preserving software is essential for preserving our cultural heritage.
At the heart of our society
Software controls the electronic equipment embedded in the machines we use to travel, communicate, trade and exchange. Software is just crucial for the proper operation of every large organizations. Software has enabled the emergence of new forms of social and political organizations.
Software is essential to understand our society.
Supporting our lifestyle
Sending messages to our family and friends, paying bills, purchasing goods, accessing entertainment, interacting with the public administration, finding information, booking travels: practically every act in our daily life relies on computers and software to be performed.
Software is a key part of our lifestyle.
Mediating all access
All our information is becoming digital, and we need software to access and interpret it, no matter the actual media it is stored in. We can make plans to preserve digital information on the long term, but it may still irremediably be lost if we do not have access to the software needed to interpret and manipulate it.
Software is the key mediator for accessing all Cultural Heritage.
You can help
We are committed to collect, index, preserve and make easily accessible the source code of the software that lies at the heart of our culture. Software Heritage will enable a wealth of applications to explore, understand, explain and preserve our Cultural Heritage.
If you share this vision, you can support our mission.