This is a difficult issue, because you cannot use the GFDL with the ODP data. That is because, for whatever reason, they have written the "Open Directory License".

http://dmoz.org/license.html

"Netscape Communications Corporation (`Netscape') owns the copyright to the compilation of the different contributions."

In my opinion they are abusing the word "free". The data is yours and is free to use, in the sense that the data itself is copyrighted by the netscape corporation. Additionally, you have to include that ugly DMOZ template on every page (as Google has done).

A much better project, which actually is based on Free text, is Wikia. Wikia is not an official Wikimedia Foundation project, but nonetheless, Jimbo Wales and others are personally interested in it's development. It is a human editable, ranked and rated directory.

According to Wales, the Wikia engine was created to "prove that the organizational model of Wikipedia can be applied effectively to search".

So it is a search engine/wiki/directory, run on GPL software and the links database is available under an actual copyleft license. Not copyrighted as a collection by some corporation.

By the way, there is a SourceForge project for Wikia

http://sourceforge.net/projects/wikia/

"Wikia is a collection of PHP scripts to run a search engine whose content is user-editable. In short, it applies the concept of a wiki to a search engine."

I see no sign of a wiki recommendation in the Searchenginewatch link you provide. I strongly doubt that Danny Sullivan would ever recommend such a thing. I suggest you edit your opening post.
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But, I'll point out that ODP as wiki is absurd – spammers all want to cram crap onto the internet and, well, it would be too hard to spot. Wikipedians can spot spammy junk easily because you can't mix encyclopedic articles with spammy links very well. But a directory of websites can be spammed to death – visit trulyopendirectory.com to see how stupid a wiki directory is.

OK, I see that the _thread_ at the bottom of the Danny Sullivan post has nothing to do with a wiki recommenation. My apologies. The blog post itself does have the absurd recommendation that ODP become a wiki.

But, that can already be done. Anyone can take ODP's basic data breakdown and manipulate it as they see fit as long as attribution is given.

   ODP itself should be protected from spammers as much as possible. Allowing just anyone to edit will lead to ODP's database to be trashed within a week. ODP isn't set up to "revert" the way Wikipedia is, but notice that wikipedia locks certain topics anyhow – why is that? Of course, it's to keep mischief to a minimum. If they see mischief and spam as problems for certain areas, then you have to understand why ODP won't allow editing by just anyone either.

> I see no sign of a wiki recommendation
> in the Searchenginewatch link you provide.

Yes KC, the post by Danny has that suggestion, and it's very visible. Danny writes:

"Here's a thought. Maybe it's time to dump the ODP editing idea all together, in terms of what's allowed in. Wikipedia seems to get by with letting anyone contribute to its pages. How about letting anyone add any link to any ODP category, while the editors serve as Wikipedia editors seem to do, as high-end police force to keep spam out."

(And I also already discussed the spam issue in my post.)