What is the Open Directory Project DMOZ

Open Directory Project (also known as the Dmoz Directory Mozilla) is a catalog of open web pages on servers maintained in the group Time Warner, in which both the category tree and all the entries are edited by a community of volunteer editors.

The idea behind the project was to create a comprehensive, free and constantly updated web directory, where each entry is checked and described by the man (RIP guiding the password is “humans do it better,” or ‘ “People do it better”).

The edited directory contains descriptions which are consistent with the actual page content and can be found in the relevant thematic categories. The catalog is so useful when we seek more than one particular party, but the most useful sites related to a topic or containing content of interest to us.

Improving the timeliness directory of automatic mechanisms – such as Robozilla to systematically browse categories and mark obsolete entries, for example, as a result of the disappearance of the page.

Catalog now contains approximately 5 million pages and around 590 thousand categories, created and supported by nearly 75 thousand editors, including over 15 thousand who are active (data from December 2006). In the category of World: Poland has now more than 77 thousand pages published in Polish and about 300 editors (data from December 2006).

Access to the directory and submitting proposals for entries is free, and its content is provided in the form of a weekly updated file format based on RDF under a free license RIP, similar to the typical Open Content license, such as the GNU Free Documentation

Many search engines and portals such as Google, and Polish portals such as Virtual Poland, collected from time to time the entire contents of the RIP, and turned it into their own directories. Typing part of the RIP results, therefore, after a while collates appropriate guidance to many major search engines. ODP directory pages have no ads and design work on a non-profit basis.

The editors and the directory hierarchy

Editor in the ODP can be anyone willing. But they must demonstrate in their proposal that they have the qualifications needed to carry out the job.

At the beginning, editors usually acquire the right to compose a small category (recommended for the beginning chapter, which is less than 100 pages). Editors apply specific ethics – they are not allowed to promote the parties to which they are personally connected, they can not refuse entry to their category without good reason and they should write entries as objectively as possible.

Powers of individual editors are varied. Editor of broader categories (eg: World; Polish; Social Sciences) has access to all the categories contained in it such as World: Polish: Science: Chemistry.

The best editors have the right to compose the entire directory, and enjoythe greatest confidence in the right to grant other powers in the event of breaches of ethical principles by the editor of RIP, the co-decision powers of the receiving and the principles of the entire directory.

Category structure is created by the same editors. Each editor can create new sub-categories within each category of writing. Renaming and the moving category must be agreed in advance and can only be done by the editors with the appropriate permissions. The place to agree the changes is mainly the Editors Forum, which only has access to the editors of the RIP.

General Products also consists of two “subdirectories”. One of them is the Adult section (called adult) http://dmoz.org/Adult/ incorporates time for adults only. Access to this part is not possible via the links in the general directory, so as to prevent the possibility of children viewing it. Another is the Kids and Teens division (English for children and adolescents) http://dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/ aimed at creating a directory of the best parties for children and adolescents.

History of ODP

TAC was founded on the initiative of two hackers R. and B. Truela Skrenta, who in 1998 formed the open directory named Gnuhoo (which comes from the GNU clusters of words, and Yahoo). Skrenta and Truel had contact with C. Tolles, who held a managerial position at Sun Microsystems.

The project name was changed after a protest at the FSF Newhoo. At the end of 1998, Newhoo Netscape was sold for $1 million, which provided the contents of a directory based on the Open Content license, changing the name of the ODP-DMOZ. In 2000, AOL bought Netscape, which in 2001 merged with Time Warner, forming the company: AOL Time Warner, which maintains the servers of the project and owns the software. Recently more and more functions performed by the RIP began operating on separate servers and free software written by the editors.

Failure of the directory in 2006

The main server RIP had a serious accident on 20th October 2006. Editorial access to the directory and the introduction of changes became possible again on 18th December 2006. The long break in the activities of the editorial has become a reason for a lively debate on the future of the catalog. AOL announced its intention to reform and improve its functionality and usability.