[Search-l] Interesting news from Yahoo...?

[John McCormac]

Jimmy Wales wrote:
> John McCormac wrote:
> 
>>They are, apparently, just as "open" as Wikiasearch. 
> 
> 
> Not unless they release the source code and data under a free license, 
> they aren't.

It is a philosophical argument Jimbo.
I think that Open Search means involving the user in optimising the 
search process and results to a greater extent. Open Source and Open 
Search are not the same thing. What  Yahoo is doing is Open Search in 
that it is utilising the user input to improve the results. It is doing 
it at a finer level of granularity than Wikia.

Even if Yahoo or Google released the source code, there is no guarantee 
that the quality of the resultant index would be anything near as good. 
The quality of Wikiasearch's index is its greatest weakness when 
competing with serious operators like Yahoo and Google. Getting the 
quality issues right is critical. Until that happens, arguments over 
whether the search is Open Source or Open Search are moot.

Regards...jmcc
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