Webwork - 1:43 am on Dec 12, 2006 (gmt 0)

I smell death.

What I am reading is that "there is no better way, we are as evolved as far as possible". When an entity doesn't evolve whilst the world changes around it what often happens is a slow decline, even death, for that entity. To assert that the submission and review process is - in essence - as good as it gets doesn't mean that the experiment - which is what evolution is - is over.

How could this be?

Well, the ODP "product" is public license GNU isn't it?

I can envision the eventual full-on cloning of DMOZ as an open public project: A splinter group of editors takes the DMOZ dump, finds a backer and deploys the data to a different management system, one that does a better job of distributing and automating the submission and review process -> DMOZopedia style.

Mambo begot Joomla. Backers and participants of a founding premise - devoted people but of a different mind concerning implementation, deployment, other - choose the open source GNU way: "Okay, you don't own it, so we'll take it upon ourselves to present this premise in a new way".

I'll venture a guess that amongst the editors there is already something in the works. The sign of this will be member editors pitching some version of DMOZ2.0 internally and those who "know better" (the top dogs) arguing for all the reasons why it won't work. Anyone care to confirm that there is an internal dialogue and some fracturing into camps about how to take the project forward?

It's possible there are 7,000 editors of like mind. Is it possible that 63,000 ex-editors left out of frustration with the status quo? Only those who have participated know.

Experiment . . evolve . . or extinction? DMOZ and DMOZOpediaStyle?

Mambo and Joomla?

I know that volunteers and their ideas can be pretty hard to contain sometimes.

"Nothing is quite so powerful as an idea whose time has come".

I'm just guessing here but it may be that the server issues might catalyze a new movement, in GNU style, one that takes the DMOZ idea but manages to deploy it in a manner and method to outdoes the original, Wikipedia style?

[edited by: Webwork at 1:23 pm (utc) on Dec. 12, 2006]