Is the backend used by reCaptcha open source? Is it a simple web app that can be deployed in a given container?
Thanks, LES
A:
This should be able to answer all of your questions for you: http://recaptcha.net/
Charles Boyung
2010-03-31 20:01:15
i've read the site ... i've actually intergrated a working recaptcha solution that uses the web service ... i'm just wondering if i can run the backend locally so i don't have to make web service calls (actually, i'm working with a client who's afraid of web services ... don't think i can convince them otherwise)
LES2
2010-03-31 20:07:57
@LES2 - if you've read that site, shouldn't you have been able to tell that it is a service that you hook into? It's pretty clear on the site that this is how it works.
Charles Boyung
2010-04-05 13:12:22
actually, further on the site (or perhaps to a linked site), it's clearly mentioned that recaptcha is built atop open source software, such as nginx, etc., and that you can actually deploy your own sever. it's just a bit much - it's not as simple as adding a servlet to web.xml.
LES2
2010-04-27 15:03:38
+2
A:
It's a web service. It is supplied by a third party.
You can integrate it into your application, but as far as the source code goes, no. Its value is not in the source code but in the images that are supplied. They're not randomly generated but come from books from those parts an OCR system failed to process. So by solving reCaptcha people are actually helping scan books. Somebody takes care of the scanning process and supplied a constant flow of new challenges. Hard to beat.
Developer Art
2010-03-31 20:01:22
+1
A:
Running reCaptcha on your own server would be very cumbersome, as it requires a constant supply of image data (scanned books) to work. Also it would kind of beat a part of the purpose, that is digitizing books for the common good. Besides, I don't think it's even available.
Matti Virkkunen
2010-03-31 20:02:10
yes, i love the recaptcha effort too. unfortunately, i'm working with someone who doesn't. i just want to be able to definitively tell them "it's possible" or "not possible"
LES2
2010-03-31 20:08:59
the real answer is, yes, you can, reCaptcha is built using open-source technologies, but it's not a trivial matter. There's no reCaptcha jar that you can drop in your app, expose a servlet, and use. You need Hadoop, nginx, python, etc. It's not a realistic feat. Add to that what you point out - you need a constant stream of new word.
LES2
2010-04-01 18:35:05