Plain Text Outlasts Modern Software

The strongest case for plain text is not nostalgia—it is resistance to lock-in. Its limitations are real, but developers should default to it whenever richer formats do not solve a concrete problem.

• –Unix tools, editors, version control, and modern automation all work naturally with text.
• –Markdown preserves readable source files while adding headings, links, lists, and structure.
• –Text-native data keeps notes, prompts, documentation, configuration, and code portable across tools and vendors.
• –Encoding and line-ending problems remain, but they are usually easier to recover from than proprietary binary formats.
• –Hacker News commenters reinforced the point by connecting plain text to Unicode, accounting tools, and long-running developer workflows. [Discussion](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49968906)