[Tfug] ubuntu

[Claude Rubinson]

On Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 12:19:44PM -0700, Jeff Breadner wrote:
> If you want to try to consolidate this all into one wiki/blog/whatever, 
> that would be an interesting project, but it will be a bit of a fight to 
> get the critical mass of people submitting and maintaining their own 
> content

<snip>

> For most folks, the gateway to this knowledge is your search engine.


Back in the 90s, there were a few websites that did just this.  I seem
to recall that two were especially good, both named some derivation of
"linux on laptops" or some such.  This was also at the same time that
the tldp (Linux Documentation Project) was an invaluable resource.

As time has progressed, such efforts have fallen by the wayside.  As
Jeff notes, the search engine has become the primary interface for
finding such information.  Essentially, the internet is becoming more
decentralized, chaotic, and anarchic than it was in the past--more
people are using more tools to publish more information--and top-down
hierarchical structures have become more of a hindrance than a help.
Google was a great advance forward over Yahoo and their brethren;
personally, I can't wait to see what will topple Google as Google's
S/N ratio is dropping fast.  But Jeff's right, the age of the
centralized information/publication repository has passed.

C.