iff.mdwn (1042B)
1 **Interchange File Format** is a generic container file format originally introduced by the [[Electronic Arts]] company in 1985 (in cooperation with [[Commodore]]) in order to facilitate transfer of data between software produced by different companies. 2 3 ## Relevance to Permacomputing 4 5 IFF helps minimize problems such as new versions of a particular program having trouble reading data files produced by older versions, or needing a new file format every time a new version needs to store additional information. 6 7 It also encourages standardized [[file formats]] that aren't tied to a particular product. All of this is good for endusers because it means that their valuable data isn't locked into some [[proprietary]] standard that can't be used with a wide variety of hardware and software. Above all else, endusers don't want their work to be held hostage by a single corporate entity over whom they has no direct control. 8 9 IFF helps to break this needlessly proprietary stranglehold that developers have exerted upon endusers' works.