Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!jarthur!nntp-server.caltech.edu!marcel
From: marcel@cs.caltech.edu (Marcel van der Goot)
Newsgroups: comp.text.tex
Subject: Re: Public Domain Dictionary
Keywords: odd-ball ideas
Message-ID: <1991Jun1.011335.6651@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
Date: 1 Jun 91 01:13:35 GMT
References: <1991May31.163736.27167@imagen.com>
Sender: news@nntp-server.caltech.edu
Organization: California Institute of Technology (CS dept)
Lines: 37

ram@lynx.Berkeley.EDU (m.v.s. ramanath) wrote:

> There seems to be a serious need for a public domain dictionary.

Strange, but I have never heard of this need before, nor had it
myself... It seems to me that there are quite enough good dictionaries
around, in all forms and versions, including machine-readable formats.
Dictionaries (at least those for English) are also not excessively
expensive, so what's the point?

> So as long as we come up with our own definitions and don't lift
> stuff verbatim from published dictionaries

That is a much harder task than you think. Except for very simple words,
it is quite hard to come up with a meaningful definition that is acceptable
to a majority of people. (Simple words may also be difficult.)

> That means we need about 100 volunteers who each undertake to come up with
> the definitions (in their own unique words) of 5 words per day.

Ha! Sure, you pick 100 people and ask each of them to list 5 words per day
(don't even bother about the definitions). How many different words would
you have after a year? About 20_000 maybe? (Unless of course everyone
takes a part of a published dictionary and starts copying words.)

> So how about it folks ? Volunteers ?

Maybe you should try some alt groups...


                                          Marcel van der Goot
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