November 17, 2003
Sharing Resources - The Real Internet
The way the Internet was meant to be. Open sharing of information, software, video, music, ideas and news. A recent article in Wired describes Ibiblio, "one of the Web's oldest and largest digital libraries, has all this and much, much more -- and all of it is completely free to visitors, thanks to backing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and technology companies like Linux distributor Red Hat."
Ibiblio's staff and contributors rescue documents, videos, audio and image files from dusty archives or attics where few could view them and put them on the Web, where anyone with an Internet connection can retrieve the information. The library also gives Web space to those who can't host their own sites due to political or financial considerations.
Ibiblio averages about 3 million information requests per day, and the contributor-maintained collections are expanding daily. There are no restricted areas and visitors can critique or add information to an existing collection, or create and manage their own collection of information.
"Basically, if you want to share information about almost any subject, ibiblio will be happy to host you for free," said director Paul Jones. "The only rules are that whatever you want to share must be noncommercial, legal and have some value to other people. We'd like to demonstrate that the best way to protect and preserve so-called intellectual property is to share it freely with everyone," said Jones. "Shared information is enhanced and improved, so its value can only increase. Hoarded knowledge just stagnates."
Or you might just want to download some free software. Ibiblio offers new upgrades for one of the many open-source software projects e.g. Linux. It also offers downloadable books. For example:
Thinking in Java
A step-by-step guide
How to Think Like a Computer Scientist - How to Think in Java
How to Think Like a Computer Scientist - Python Version
Thinking in C++
From basic keywords and programming principles to more advanced topics
How to Think Like a Computer Scientist - C++ Advanced Placement Version
An online textbook of C++
or perhaps
Old Eclectic Books and Journals of Traditional Medicines
Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
Discover the rest for yourself...