The DMOZ Report Part 1 By: Joel Wilkinson Date: 12/16/2006 Time: 11:15pm Discontinuation of site status checks chosen to discontinue site status checks effective May 21, 2005. Closure of the existing Site Submission Status forums will happen by this date, and we will not be accepting any new status check threads after this time. The submission status forums will be archived. See this thread at: http://www.resource-zone.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39116 Then turn around on December 3, 2006 and state this as it follows: We are currently experiencing technical problems with our servers. Currently the public pages are static pages that have been generated from a backup. This means: (1) the public pages do not reflect the most recent updates made to the directory; (2) scripted pages, including site suggestion and application forms, are not functioning; and (3) editors are unable to check the status of new editor applications. We do not currently have an ETA for the resolution of the technical difficulties. We will update this announcement when the system is fully functioning again -- please do not start threads asking why the system isn't working properly or when it will be available again. Thanks. See this website for details at: http://www.resource-zone.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45325 It has long been a topic since 2005, of contention that DMOZ is corrupt. Personally, I thought that the corruption began as a result of AOL buying Netscape. Netscape had purchased DMOZ in the pass. AOL and Netscape are now using Google in or about late October 2006. However, Yahoo Directory (October 24, 2006) now supports the Open Directory Project (ODP) DMOZ. See this page at: http://www.ysearchblog.com/archives/000368.html It is this author's opinion since Google getting so big on profits and three times over Yahoo see this http://webmaster.microdynamic.org/index.php/topic,14.0.html, Yahoo Directory now supports the Open Directory Project (ODP) it is probably a smart move on Yahoo part to purchase DMOZ from AOL this is only speculation at this point to help to bring up profits. So what does all means, time will tell in the year 2007 and we will see what happened to DMOZ as a company. Notwithstanding, since AOL is now using Google results, something is going on that is for sure. At the same the time, Dogpile.com, the search engine that combines the top results from all the leading search engines, ranked highest in overall customer satisfaction among Internet users, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Residential Online Service Customer Satisfaction Study. If you would like to reproduce this article in an email newsletter: Permission is granted provided that the article is reproduced in its entirety as shown above, included, linking to http://webmaster.microdynamic.org/ar/end_DMOZ_soon_coming.html. We appreciate an email notification and a copy of the newsletter.
Rich Skrenta, one of the founders of DMOZ has been asked and e-mailed by one of the META Editors about the DMOZ Outage and his blog about possible existence or transfer or sale. With a response from a Die Hard or Hard to Die DMOZ Meta.
It is good to see Rich Skrenta taking a pot shot at DMOZ secrecy - pity he didn't set it up and nurture a culture of openness when he had the opportunity. You also have to remember that Rich has "Root" ODP access and can see everything and if anyone knows what is really going on he does, yet he is described by a meta as fuelling paranoia. Interesting, either Rich is way off mark (or deliberately stirring given his inside knowledge and position) or there are metas in denial. He is certainly suggesting editors should prepare to move elsewhere and rebuild. There are certain things I don't agree with - I don't think a monetary backer is necessary and nor is accepting advertising. Any replacement must be community driven and owned and managed. Far from being disasterous this might be the best thing that has happened to the ODP - an opportunity to rebuild based on a true volunteer directed model, scratching out all the mistakes of the past.
You wanna know who ? If there will be a big exodus of DMOZ editors. The leader of the New Order and a start of a New Directory can only be implemented by ONE person. Its just HIS decision. Second star to the right, then straight on till morning ( You know who you are )
yes you are just there and I may very well opne to act as a leader of the Dmzo editors but I could only make a directory on static html pages as I have less resources but editors would have all functions
I guess we can categorise it as - AS GOOD AS DEAD.... I'm still amazed at the loss of the database and lack of a useable backup -- so amateurish it's scary
Gotta love pvgool's comment here http://www.resource-zone.com/forum/showpost.php?p=230412&postcount=3 This guys is hilarious... Worth submitting to Reader's Digest's Humor in Uniform: SNAFU? (situation normal - all f**ked up) And then this presumably unintentional pun from Crowbar in the same thread: I don't want to discourage you, crowbar, but I don't think anyone was lining up to idolize you even before the crash And then there's this little gem from the ever hilarious jimnoble:
Oh! good work I think It would be more funny if I see those resource zone forums as I think I would be laughing all the day because of these kind of posts