Open Directory Project

The goal of the Open Directory Project is to create the most comprehensive human-reviewed directory of Web pages. It is a project originally begun by and continues to be managed by Netscape. You may remember that the Netscape logo was once a dinosaur named Mozilla. Many of Netscape’s projects and products have thus born that name, and this project is no exception. At the beginning of the chapter it was explained that the acronym for the Open Directory Project is DMOZ. That certainly doesn’t stand for Open Directory Project in any language. What it does stand for is directory.mozilla.org, the original name for the project at Netscape.

You will probably notice the distinct similarity between the Open Directory Project page and the Google Directory page. This is by design. The Google Directory is based on the Open Directory Project and relies on the volunteer editors to supply content to the Google Directory.

The Open Directory Project makes its content available through a special license known as an open content license. The license that governs the Open Directory Project at www.dmoz.org gives you the right to use, reproduce, modify, and create derivative works from the Open Directory. You can find the license here: (http://dmoz.org/license.html).