I’ve seen this posted about Mastodon a lot, and then @amerpie posted about it yesterday, and I thought, why the heck not? Let’s check it out; I’ve got some time to kill.

So, yeah, this KIWIX is really cool. I’m not a Super Bowl kind of guy, so I downloaded Kiwix and then proceeded to download the entire Wikipedia, then iFixit, then Gutenberg. Sheesh, why not? I have a Synology with ample space, so why not lock some of this stuff in and have it on local storage?

If you read some of the reviews on Kiwix, you’d think it doesn’t work well, but I’ve had zero issues with it; I’m using the Mac App. So now I’m a downloading fool, gathering what I can for no apparent reason other than because I can…

Here is their Library of downloads. Check it out and see if there is anything you may want to have stored locally.

Some of the files are huge, so good storage capacity is a must, but they have tons of different download options if you are interested in just sections of, say, Wikipedia.

You can even run a local Wi-Fi network from a Raspberry Pi with all your downloaded data. This would be great for classrooms, but I may do this just for the fun of it.

It’s good to have it stored locally, but clearly, the mission is for folks who have limited or no internet access. It’s free to use and looks like a worthy endeavor to support with your skills or finances.

Here is their About Page. Some pretty cool stuff here, like:

The Short Story Did you know that you could store the entirety of Wikipedia on your phone? And read it anywhere, at anytime?

The Long Story We can make highly compressed copies of entire websites that each fit into a single (.zim) file. Zim files are small enough that they can be stored on users’ mobile phones, computers or small, inexpensive Hotspot.

Kiwix then acts like a regular browser, except that it reads these local copies. People with no or limited internet access can enjoy the same browsing experience as anyone else.

The software as well as the content are fully open-source and free to use and share.

The Challenge
50% of the world’s population has no reliable access to the internet. This can be because of cost, lack of infrastructure, or censorship.

The Solution – How Does It Work?
We copy educational websites and compress them into files that people can take with them and browse anytime, anywhere. Kiwix Is Also A Nonprofit Most of our revenue comes from donations. We do not display ads, nor do we collect personal data.