victor - 8:30 pm on Jul 23, 2007 (gmt 0)

Why? Why is there a dump?

It is exactly the same concept as an RSS feed. Anyone can access the ODP data in a easily parsable way, and restructure it to add value.

Most of the clones add zero value: that's unmistakable. Some add some useful value (such as Google recasting into PageRank order). The opportunity for others to be more creative with the data still remains open.

There simply is no reason why the ODP should withdraw its RDF-style feed. RDF feeds and the semantic web are part of the future. The ODP should not get stuck in the past.

If you ended the dump, once again I repeat...there would be no complainers here or anywhere else on the net because it would be only one more static link.

If you ended Google, most of the complains about the ODP would fade away. Let's try that first. (Remember, the ODP dump predates Google, so logically the solution should start with the entity the gave rise to the complaints -- and that was not the Google-free ODP dump)

But this still does not answer the question. If the ODP is growing as a whole...why is the shoppping category not growing, at least in a relevant percentage. Indeed, it is shrinking disproportionately.

A parallel question is why are several categories on WMW shrinking disproportionately? Perhaps due to the volunteer posters not taking much interest in answering questions on those topics (perhaps other factors too). But the answer is not (presumably) to close down parts of WMW's service?