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Project Gutenberg's 32nd Birthday

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the read-franklin's-autobiography dept.

David Moynihan writes "July 4th marks the 32nd anniversary of that day in 1971 when Michael Hart first sped an all-caps version of the Declaration of Independence to anyone and everyone then on what later became the web, thus founding Project Gutenberg. Thanks to an army of volunteers and the Distributed Proofreaders, this is the last year PG will have fewer than 10,000 titles. Strangely, Microsoft picked this dual anniversary of literacy and freedom to re-launch their Reader product, with three free bestsellers a week, if you activate the new version with Passport, sign a EULA, etc. Real reason for the upgrade might be that the DRM on MS's old Reader was cracked. If you're not into giving away data, or are running a system other than Windows, maybe you could take the time to tell a friend about free books online, or even help out by visiting the Distributed Proofers and editing one page per day."

5 of 178 comments (clear)

  1. very timely for me by b17bmbr · · Score: 5, Interesting

    i am going to be teaching modern civ next year in high school (i have been at the junior high for 7 years) , and have already gone to the site and gotten works from aristotle, plato, locke, montesque, et al. thanks guys. there is still something to be said for a classical education. glad somebody is doing all they can to preserve the classics, especially with all the assaults on it from the social reconstructionists.

    --
    My problem? I was perfectly gruntled, until some numbnuts came by and dissed me.
  2. Really great work by the guys behind the project! by jaemark · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There's really a problem though about getting the word out to people, in pretty much the same way the popularity of libraries today has been dropping. A good idea would be a separate advocacy site to come up with lists of texts in the project (i.e. What's New?, Most Popular, etc.) to help people wade in immediately.

  3. Too bad... by Insurgent2 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Unfortunately, with the copyright periods being extended so long, the material will only be of (ancient) historical interest. The 98 percent of copyrighted works that are unpublished and should be on there, unfortunately, gets to sit collecting dust instead of benefitting mankind.

  4. Re:You can't be serious by Aldarondo · · Score: 5, Interesting
    As one that has been involved with Distributed Proofreaders for the past 18 months, yes we are serious about having Slashdot people proofread. The last time a story about D.P. ran in November, thousands of new users joined us and helped us grow and expand to our current size.

    Go and check it out, there is great work being done there. (I am a bit biased though). Click here for a history of DP.

  5. Greenstone by gmaestro · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Great to see a project like this run on Free software. Read more at Greenstone's website.