Do you know that it is possible to download the entire Wikipedia Encyclopedia to your computer and use it offline. Other than static HTML pages, you can also download all the images and photographs from the Wikipedia website in one go.The full Wikipedia website and the images are available in zipped format that can be extracted using the free 7-zip utility.
Download Wikipedia HTML webpages - Nov 2006 Dump
Download Wikipedia Images - November 2005 Dump
These dumps are intended for private viewing in an intranet or desktop installation - you may not host them on a public website.
Geeks may prefer to download Wikipedia Database Dumps that are vast and have more current information than the static HTML dumps. These are essentially XML files for MediaWiki software that can be imported back in SQL databases using freely available php scripts.
Still, none of the above methods are simple enough for mom. What we need is a Wikipedia DVD set like the one available for Encyclopædia Britannica.
Related: Wikipedia Rel=NoFollow Change
Update: While it is possible to download wikipedia using software like wget or httrack, Wikipedia policies prohibit using web crawlers to download large number of articles from Wikipedia servers.
Reader Comments
Amit - I would recommend Webaroo for the same. Relatively simple and also available for handhelds. Thanks. Mrinal
Written on 9/4/07 11:06 PM
totally agree with Mrinal.
they have a painfully :P large collection of web packs !
Written on 10/4/07 5:32 PM
I think you haven't heard that the Wikipedia CD is available online. Check it out. More information can be found here.
Written on 11/4/07 11:00 PM
Amit,
maybe you should mention that those downloads are HUGE. I am not talking about the 6-7GB of 7zip archive. I am saying that it took almost a night to uncompress them (in two threads on a 2GHz DualCore 2) and they expanded over 100GB.
I am also saying that Windows XP SP2 seems to choke on that amount of files. Should you ever want to delete them, it took me about a full day to "prepare for deleting" and actually deleting those darn files. Not really something to do on your home machine, even if it's a new one!
Written on 2/5/07 2:15 PM
I wish to start a website that needs importing and dumping the wikipedia database and starting the site.
If any of the readers here are interested in taking up the project, feel free to email a quote on bill_gates@inbox.com
Written on 19/11/07 8:14 PM