Re: Central directory

[Gunnar Hjalmarsson <mailbox@gunnar.cc>]

Jock Dempsey wrote:
> 
> A distributed system ... has the disadvantage of not having a
> central organization that makes sense of all the rings.
> ...
> To become a STRONG system there needs to be a distributed directory
> system.
System? Makes sense? Strong?
Ringlink is a software, and the different installations don't constitute
one system. That has never been the aim with it. And since there is no
such system, it can't be neither strong nor weak.
All the resources on Internet "makes sense" by the different search
facilities and directories available. As regards rings, we know that
WebRing has a directory, and that RingSurf is building a directory. But
is it really that important to combine ring hosting services (or ring
management software) with directories? Personally I doubt it. The
strength of a webring, as well as a ring hosting system, depends on how
successful the sites in it are in promoting themselves.
My own ring has been rather successfull in terms of number of sites and
traffic, but I'm sure that the WebRing directory has very little to do
with that success. Other ringmasters have reported similar experiences
as regards the value of the WebRing directory.
How do people look for information on the Internet? I can't speak for
others, but despite the fact that I'm a ringmaster, I (almost) never go
to any webring directory to look for sites on a specific topic. Instead
I use the general search engines and directories. In my opinion, the
ring directories are all too small. I also know that there are negative
"attitudes" towards webrings in general, and that many high quality
sites would never join a webring.
So I don't think that all the efforts, that would be needed to build a
central directory of Ringlink rings, would be worthwhile. Pete's systems
directory and different rings of hosts/rings of rings - built on
voluntary submissions - might be valuable resources to help promote the
Ringlink hosts and rings. But the general search engines and directories
are much more important channels.
/ Gunnar