---
title: Google and Wikipedia
date: "2005-02-14T12:00:00Z"
categories:
  - links
wp_id: 745
description: I examine Google's donation of infrastructure to Wikipedia, noting potential benefits like testing the Google OS, securing an authoritative knowledge source for search results, and positioning against Microsoft Encarta in the digital encyclopedia space.
keywords: [google, wikipedia, infrastructure, search engines, encyclopedia, microsoft encarta, distributed systems]
---

[Google donates infrastructure to Wikipedia](http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Google_hosting). Possible benefits to Google?

1. Test another end use for the famed Google OS
2. Get an "authoritative" knowledge base to provide search results on
3. Position against Microsoft Encarta as an encyclopaedia