Wikipedia Version 0.5 CD to be made available as a Static Offline Reference Source
The people behind open source encyclopedia Wikipedia, are now working on a static version of the online encyclopedia that will be stored on a CD. Over 2,000 articles will be sold on CDs to enable people without an Internet connection to access Wikpedia. In fact, a preliminary version of Wikipedia on a CD has already been released.
The Wikipedia Version 0.5 CD collection covers topics such as geography, arts, literature, science and history and many more. The articles were selected by software that rated their quality and importance to the Wikipedia community.
Besides, Martin Walker, a senior academic from the US also helped in the selection criteria.
According to Martin Walker, the Wikipedia volunteer who helped coordinate the project, “Plenty of people do not have Internet access. They have a computer and no Internet, or just a slow Internet connection. There are many times when you may be offline, anyway. You may be at a camp or something like that.”
The Wikipedia Version 0.5 CD will cost $13.99 or £7. This CD happens to be the first of many offline projects planned by the Wikipedia community.
“We did shy away a little bit from deliberately taking on those topics (history, geography, literature). This is a CD that is going to be around for a year or two,” Walker added.
Walker also said that a cleaner version should appeal to teachers who are worries about displaying pages that might contain foul language at any given moment.
The Wikpedia Version 0.5 CD is available for $13.99 plus shipping through the project’s Web site, Wikipediaondvd.com.
In spite of the Web site’s name, Walker has insited that the contents must be able to fit on a CD. He has noted that many home computers yet do not have DVD players. The Wikipedia Version 0.5 CD works with Windows 98 and later, Mac OS X running on Intel-based Mac computers and Linux x86 systems.
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