I've wondered the same.  Likewise for the Samba which often contains
valuable pictures of operating procedures.  You could download the archives
into files, then run them through a program like:
http://docfetcher.sourceforge.net - seems a bit tedious though.

I build web applications and have experience creating fast text search
engines.  But that is not going to help you so much if you are on the side
of the road with no internet.  This would be the easiest way (for me
anyway) to do this.  Yes, google does this already ie
https://www.google.ca/?q=site:gerry.vanagon.com+battery  (just put site:
gerry.vanagon.com in the query) but it is not necessarily the easiest way
to find something.

The biggest problem is not so much finding a result, it is finding the
right one amid the noise.  Stackoverflow.com does this well with voting up
and down answers based on quality.  It filters out the noise and gives you
confidence in the advice.

Tom

On Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 8:34 AM, Frank Lee <techedteacher@gmail.com> wrote:

> I was wondering if the archive collected by this wise and noble troop could
> be had locally.
>
> Ive often wanted to research and avoid "We've heard this before" Newbe
> questions when definitive answers are in the archive.
> It takes a long time  for each search.  If you don't have the right search
> term or original title, or,  cant scan through message bodies. I've not
> always been successful searching the archive.
>
> How much hard media would it require?  Could it be compacted and
> downloaded?  Drop Box?  Cloud? Cost?
>
> Frank Lee
>