Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.
Re: Open source English dictionary?
Author: Pierre-Henri Cousin Posted: 2/1/1999; 2:57:19 AM Topic: Open source English dictionary? Msg #: 2616 (In response to 2607) Prev/Next: 2615 / 2617
There may be mileage in the idea of leveraging the power of the net, but if you don't want to end up with inconsistent and flaky material you need a very sophisticated project management formula, and a lot of professional input to channel contributions towards a usable and reliable wordbank.Dave Winer mentions dictionary.com: try the item "array". The general dictionaries listed don't seem to give the computer meaning (perhaps because they are out of copyright), and the specialist definition is, to my mind, intelligible only to somebody who already knows what it means (see in particular the use of the word "typed" in the definition). However this may be unfair, and a lot more probing should be done before being too critical.
The Linux approach might work for lexicography if you have a sound base to start with and attempt to improve or enhance it with the (free) help of the myriad surfers out there - but you still need to filter and control their input.
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