[David Prenatt:]
> >
> > I wholeheartedly disagree. Although still in its infancy, your
> > Web site Wikipedia is an unqualified success.

[Jimmy Wales:]
>
> Yes, wikipedia is a huge success. But it's not really an
> alternative to the ODP, except in the sense of being something fun
> for volunteers to work on.

Although it is not a classic Yahoo!-style Web directory, Wikipedia fills a void
that ODP does not even attempt to fill. To wit, Wikipedia serves as an
excellent starting point for those seeking peer-reviewed information about a
particular topic. Granted, Wikipedia doesn't link to the 4 million or so Web
sites that ODP does, but there's no reason why it can't, and Wikipedia's
*TOTALLY* free license prevents anyone from monopolizing Wikipedia's content.

[David Prenatt:]
> >
> > As for indexing the Internet, people can simply publish their own
> > selective links lists on their own Web sites, pursue a strategy of
> > link exchange with other Web sites, and rest assured that Google
> > will incorporate their content by the by.

[Jimmy Wales:]
>
> That may be so, but I still think there's a possible role for human
> indexing.

I'm not saying otherwise; I'm simply saying that contributing to a centralized
resource like ODP is nowhere near as important as it might have once been. In
fact, it's a good idea for conscientious linkmasters *NOT* to contribute their
work to ODP. I know several people who joined ODP, contributed thousands of
well-categorized links, and got unceremoniously tossed out of ODP without
warning or notice. After that, these linkmasters were helpless to prevent their
high quality work from being destroyed by amateurs.

[Jimmy Wales:]
>
> It's certainly an interesting question -- possibly machine indexing
> is good enough, so that human indexing is no longer needed.

I wouldn't go that far. Google's algorithm has some very obvious flaws, and
unscrupulous Webmasters have learned how to exploit these flaws. Google's
algorithm works best when there is a consensus of hubs and authorities, and such
a consensus is not possible when a small handfull of large scale Web indexes
drown out the voices of smaller, more authoritative ones.

Ultimately, the centralized authority of Google will give way to the
decentralized authority of the Open GRiD. (See <
http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~maxim/OpenGRiD/ >.) But for this to happen, we need
more human indexing, not less.

Humbly Yours,

XODP Moderator netesq