Web Search By The People, For The People: YaCy 1.0
The YaCy project is releasing version 1.0 of its peer-to-peer Free
Software search engine. The software takes a radically new approach to
search. YaCy does not use a central server. Instead, its search
results come from a network of currently over 600 independent
peers. In such a distributed network, no single entity decides what
gets listed, or in which order results appear.
The YaCy search engine runs on each user's own computer. Search terms
are encrypted before they leave the user and the user's
computer. Different from conventional search engines, YaCy is designed
to protect users' privacy. A user's computer creates its individual
search indexes and rankings, so that results better match what the
user is looking for over time. YaCy also makes it easy to create a
customised search portal with a few clicks.
"Most of what we do on the Internet involves search. It's the vital
link between us and the information we're looking for. For such an
essential function, we cannot rely on a few large companies, and
compromise our privacy in the process," says Michael Christen, YaCy's
project leader. "YaCy's free search is the vital link between free
users and free information. YaCy hands control over search back to us,
the users."
Each YaCy user is part of a large search network. YaCy is already in
use on websites such as sciencenet.kit.edu,
yacy.geocaching-portal.com, or fsfe.org, to provide a site-wide search
function that respect users' privacy. It contains a peer-to-peer
network protocol to exchange search indexes with other YaCy search
engines.
"We are moving away from the idea that services need to be centrally
controlled. Instead, we are realising how important it is to be
independent, and to create infrastructure that doesn't have a single
point of failure," says Karsten Gerloff, President of the Free
Software Foundation Europe. "In the future world of distributed,
peer-to-peer systems, Free Software search engines like YaCy are a
vital building block."
Everyone can try out the search engine at
http://search.yacy.net. Users can become part of YaCy's network by
installing the software on their own computers. YaCy is Free Software,
so anyone can use, study, share and improve it. It is currently
available for GNU/Linux, Windows and MacOS. The project is also
looking for developers and other contributors.
= Links: =
YaCy homepage: http://yacy.net
YaCy search portal: http://search.yacy.net/
How to contribute: http://yacy.net/en/Join.html
Free Software Foundation Europe: http://fsfe.org
= Contacts =
Michael Christen
YaCy Project Leader
Tel. +49 177 6424235
Email: mc@yacy.net
Karsten Gerloff
President, Free Software Foundation Europe
Tel. +49 176 9690 4298
Email: gerloff@fsfeurope.org
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