As long as I have been involved with computing, there have been larger applications such as Microsoft Office that we’re tasked with integrating into systems. There are smaller, much simpler tools that tend to be products of the need to work with larger tools. An example of a small offshoot tool created because of Office is the SCANPST.EXE tool. it’s small, has a few DLLs and comes with Office. But knowing about these smaller tools and building a database is something I’ve always wanted to build. For myself, yes, but also for you.

The beginning of all this started from finding a half-decent, short and memorable domain name. In my rather aimless searching, I came across a bunch of candidates, but found IUDB.NET – it felt right. You can probably tell what inspired the domain, yes it was IMDB. I like the simple abbreviation and it’s been easy for me to go back to it when looking for info on a tool I’ve used.

Building the database would then have to be based on some kind of Wiki or documentation software. This felt like more of a fit than something like WordPress or other blogging tools. I looked at Wiki.js, Docuwiki, and MediaWiki but found that BookStack suited my needs best. The rich design support analytics CSS code changes as well as specific permissions on posts – this tool felt right for what I was doing.

The result is the Internet Utility Database and it holds much collective knowledge, details and commentary on utilities for all platforms. Some of these utilities are common and get more commentary on use, and other tools are so obscure that you might not find them anywhere else. I, of course, don’t expect I will ever be able to cover every tool out there that ever existed (though that wouldn’t suck). My point of differentiation over that of the sites like Softopideia is that I’m not concerned with creating Ad-driven hell that doesn’t care about how the tool is used or useful. I also have a large stash of tools from at least the early 1990s that I’m working to include (so long as they may still of be of use).

But, as with everything, there is limited time to work on this. I would like to appeal to others that are utilities ‘geeks’ as much as I am. Contact me and join me in helping shape this tool for everyone. I’d love to have a core of three or four others added and updated details so we can turn this into a powerhouse site that might one day even cover the different versions of tools (and what gets lost before they become paid). No matter what, enjoy and get involved if you can.