Preserving the source code of all software: Why it is necessary, and how to do it

Software is at the heart of all the activities of our modern societies, and the source code of this software is an important product of human creativity, embodying a growing portion of our scientific, organizational and technological knowledge: it is part of our cultural heritage, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure that it is not lost. The task is enormous and the stakes are colossal: on the one hand, it's about preserving software's past, which requires a significant research and development effort, not only from a technological perspective, but also from a historical and organizational one. On the other, it's about building a great tool to observe current software development and prepare better software for the future. Preserving software history is indeed a key factor for research reproducibility, and a means to promote better and safer software for society. This is the mission assumed by Software Heritage: to build a universal archive specifically designed for software source code, a common good that must be made available to all, and at the same time an international infrastructure to reconcile the preservation of this common good with the sovereignty of nations. © 2021 Associazione Italiana per l'Informatica e il Calcolo Automatico. All rights reserved.