dmoz RIP?
DMOZ - now called the Open Directory Project - just doesn't have the respect it deserves. That's partly because it's had more names than even Firefox/Firebird/Phoenix.
It started out as GnuHoo, but RMS took exception to that, and it became NewHoo - which Yahoo promptly took exception to. It managed to avoid the horrible ZURL (shouldn't that be Zurg?), before metamorphosing into the Open Directory Project, also known as dmoz (from directory.mozilla.org) to its friends.
But it's real importance is not as an open Yahoo: it was the direct inspiration for Nupedia - NewHoo, Nupedia - geddit? - which in turn gave rise to the complementary Wikipedia: need I say more?
So it's sad to hear that dmoz is fizzling. It may not serve much purpose at present, but it's had a glorious past. (Via John Battelle's Searchblog.)
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3 comments:
Dmoz for editors is back up.
Dear Editor,
On October 20th, the DMOZ editor server experienced a serious failure. The technical issues have been resolved and the site is back up and working.
You are now able to log in and edit just like before. However, despite the best efforts of our staff, not all of the data could be recovered. The public side is intact, but unfortunately, a significant amount of the editor-only data is lost. The programmers will continue working on the recovery process while we return to editing.
...
Thank you for your contributions to the directory.
The DMOZ team
If anyone, anyone at all, can provide a VALID email to the DMOZ team, it would be appreciated. I have a site on there that I have wanted removed for months. I cannot reach anyone. Their emails bounce back. My site is getting loads of spam and I want it removed from their directory. If they aren't going to handle things properly, they should delete their entire site.
P.S. - The "Visual Verification" does not work in the latest version of Firefox, 2.0.0.3 as of 7/25/07. I had to use an old version of Mozilla to post this.
I don't have any email, I'm afraid: anyone else?
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