Piltdown Link Checker

Piltdown is a versatile HTML link checker, which has been designed to work recursively and help you detect whether links are missing or have been relocated correctly. The software is written in Perl and will run seamlessly on virtually any networked computer. You can find a detailed description in the accompanying readme file 'piltdown.txt'.

This software came to be after the developer's frustration with the existing alternatives. Most link checkers available on the market are either incomplete or inaccurate. For instance, some web servers may not react appropriately to the HTTP "HEAD" request, and as a consequence, thorough link checkers that depend on HEAD may report missing links when there aren't any. Interestingly, according to the developer's testing, such uncompliant servers come from a particular corporation with initials "MS" - a detail that may not come as a surprise to many!

Additionally, another GUI-based checker for OSX worked well but ended up flagging all relative links with a leading "/" as errors - a false positive. Even further, how about links ending up hiding within CSS or JavaScript files? Most link checkers fail to locate and examine such non-html files.

All in all, Piltdown's free availability makes it a highly desired software option to have. However, redistribution or charging a fee for it is not permitted. Piltdown comes without warranty of any kind - expressed or implied. The developer is available to answer queries or address any bug reports or feature requests. In case you're wondering, Piltdown takes its name from Piltdown Man, the missing link!