Thread: Which format is best for long-term storage?
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Old 07-28-2014, 03:18 PM   #45
JSWolf
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eschwartz View Post
Except that there is no real need to bother with converting to EPUB at that time, or ever -- unless you suddenly need the EPUB in order to read it in an EPUB reader, or you happen to be editing the code now.

Just for storing it, there is no need to convert to EPUB for the sake of the archive.
Yes there is a need and a very good reason. ePub is based on a ZIP and XML I don't think these two things will go away. So in the future, you will be able to open the ZIP container and extract the files. Thus, you will have access to the eBook. When the day comes that Calibre is no longer supported and Python 2.x no longer runs on your latest computer, then there no longer such access to other formats such as Mobipocket or AZW3. ePub is the only eBook format that has a chance to survive in the future in terms of being able to get at the content held within.

I cannot say what's going to happen in the future, but I do think ePub has the best chance of being able to get the book out of the container it's in.
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