Under the hood Freebase is a graph database. This means that instead of using tables and keys to define data structures, Freebase defines its data structure as a set of nodes and a set of links that establish relationships between the nodes. Because its data structure is non-hierarchical, Freebase can model much more complex relationships between individual elements than a conventional database, and is open for users to enter new objects and relationships into the underlying graph.
The Freebase database is not open source, meaning we don't make our source code available to others for further development. However, the information contained in Freebase is open to anyone to use in their own applications provided they give proper attribution to the Freebase community, as described in our licensing policy.
Freebase does offer some open source tools, such as the freebase-suggest jquery plugin, and a freebase python library, that you can check out through download.freebase.com.
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FAQ (frequently asked questions)
- What is Freebase?
- How is Freebase different from Wikipedia? From Google Base?
- How can I use Freebase?
- Where does the information in Freebase come from?
- How do I know that the information in Freebase is accurate?
- What are the rules for using the data in Freebase?
- Do I have to pay to use Freebase?
- What kind of database do you use? Is your platform open source?
- Are you connected to other open data projects?
- What is the relationship between Freebase and Metaweb?
- How does Metaweb plan to make money?
- How can I contact Metaweb?
- Are you hiring?
