What free software was created to read Wikipedia offline? Kiwix is the answer.
Kiwix is free and open-source software that lets people browse downloaded web content without an internet connection. It was initially created to make Wikipedia available offline, then expanded to support Wikimedia projects, Project Gutenberg, Stack Exchange material, and other openly licensed resources.
The project was created by Emmanuel Engelhart and Renaud Gaudin in 2007. Users download Kiwix and then obtain content packages, which are usually distributed as ZIM files. Kiwix provides search, navigation, and article viewing in a browser-like interface, making it useful where connectivity is unavailable, costly, slow, or restricted.
Kiwix is sometimes mistaken for the archive format itself. Kiwix is the reader or software; ZIM is the file format containing the offline content. It is also more than a desktop application: versions and related tools support computers, mobile devices, browser-based use, and local networks such as school or library hotspots.