Comment on Online Oxford English Dictionary puts definitions/meanings and usage behind paywall
Smokeydope@lemmy.world 12 hours agoOxford English Dictionary is directly funded by Oxford University. Im pretty sure a world class old money university can subsidize public access and periodic updates to a database without putting it behind a subscription based paywall. At least offer a lifetime sub option.
FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 11 hours ago
They aren’t under any obligation to provide the fruit of their labour free of charge.
As far as I can see their subscription prices have also only gone up over the years. Why? Do you think a Mr Burns like figure is sitting behind the scenes asking Smithers to relese the hounds? Or because running the linguistic operation, the database, and a website that people all over the world look at as the de facto authority of the language and gets queried thousands of times per day just cost shitloads of money? And they no longer get enough funding another way?
Did they ever put ads on their website? Do you run uBlock or similar plugins on your browser?
Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone 9 hours ago
Maybe the £8.7 billion endowment university that employs them should make sure they’re adequately compensated for their work, and not people who want to know how to spell a word.
FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 8 hours ago
That’s a matter of opinion. I suspect a big university like that quickly spends its budget and does way more than compile a dictionary. And if spelling is all you need, that still appears to be possible in front of the paywall.
For the longest time, it wasn’t free of charge. You had to buy expensive books. I fail to see a justification for the outrage. Also considering that this thread is rife with suggestions for alternatives and more dodgy solutions.