Jimmy Wales Stops Wikia Search--MS Encarta also Closed
Two very different projects have closed this week: Microsoft's commercial Encarta, and after just 14 months, the free search engine Wikia Search.
Encarta has been around since the '90's and has since been available on CD and DVD. Some articles have been integrated into MSN Search. The project has around 50.000 entries with updates over the Internet and other more traditional media. A subscription version was also available. From June, according to a Microsoft statement, sales of the media will stop and subscriptions refunded. World-wide closure of the website will take place in October, except for Japan, which will hang on until December 31. Competition projects like Pediatric killed Encarta, even if Microsoft does try to cloud the issue by claiming that people's search habits have changed.
Another project from Wikipedia's founder, Jimmy Wales, has not been as successful as Wikipedia itself. After a short life, Wikia Search will also be discontinued. The reason, according to Wales, is although growth of the user-controlled search engine has been impressive, it's still well behind his expectations. He blames the current financial crisis.
"In a different economy, we would continue to fund Wikia Search indefinitely. It's something I care about deeply. I will return to again and again in my career to search, either as an investor, a contributor, a donor, or a cheerleader" writes Wales on his website. Until then, he'll be devoting his time to other Wiki.com projects such as Wikianswers.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Systemd Fixes Bug While Facing New Challenger in GNU Shepherd
The systemd developers have fixed a really nasty bug amid the release of the new GNU Shepherd init system.
-
AlmaLinux 10.0 Beta Released
The AlmaLinux OS Foundation has announced the availability of AlmaLinux 10.0 Beta ("Purple Lion") for all supported devices with significant changes.
-
Gnome 47.2 Now Available
Gnome 47.2 is now available for general use but don't expect much in the way of newness, as this is all about improvements and bug fixes.
-
Latest Cinnamon Desktop Releases with a Bold New Look
Just in time for the holidays, the developer of the Cinnamon desktop has shipped a new release to help spice up your eggnog with new features and a new look.
-
Armbian 24.11 Released with Expanded Hardware Support
If you've been waiting for Armbian to support OrangePi 5 Max and Radxa ROCK 5B+, the wait is over.
-
SUSE Renames Several Products for Better Name Recognition
SUSE has been a very powerful player in the European market, but it knows it must branch out to gain serious traction. Will a name change do the trick?
-
ESET Discovers New Linux Malware
WolfsBane is an all-in-one malware that has hit the Linux operating system and includes a dropper, a launcher, and a backdoor.
-
New Linux Kernel Patch Allows Forcing a CPU Mitigation
Even when CPU mitigations can consume precious CPU cycles, it might not be a bad idea to allow users to enable them, even if your machine isn't vulnerable.
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.5 Released
Notify your friends, loved ones, and colleagues that the latest version of RHEL is available with plenty of enhancements.
-
Linux Sees Massive Performance Increase from a Single Line of Code
With one line of code, Intel was able to increase the performance of the Linux kernel by 4,000 percent.