Backing up your PGP key by hand

[Robert J. Hansen]

> Since paper as we know it today doesn't even exist so long that can't
> be true. Maybe you are pointing to the few surviving papyrus texts?
> Most have not survived.

I've personally seen paper ballots from elections in the Senate of
ancient Rome.  Admittedly, this was 15 years ago so I can no longer say
precisely which century they were from, but they were indeed paper and
the marks on them were still legible.

The reason why few paper texts survived to the modern day isn't that
paper isn't durable.  It's because paper *IS* durable.  It's a
fantastically useful material and, for most of human history, was
incredibly expensive.  Rather than preserve paper, people re-used it
again and again until it just wore out.  (They did the same thing with 
vellum, too, which was preferred not because it stood up to repeated use 
better, but because it was so much *cheaper*.)

Many Gutenberg Bibles are still in fine condition today.  Of about 160
copies printed, about fifty still exist today.  The paper in question is
linen, which is still used by archivists looking for long-term
preservation.

So, yeah.  I'm going to be solidly on the side of "no, really, paper is
a magic technology, just be sure to talk with an archivist first to
ensure you're using the right kind of paper."