VSL virtual software library Searching for files to download over the Internet isn't easy. Scanning ftp sites directories is inefficient. Older search techniques like Archie began to show their age pretty quickly. Enter VSL, an open standard that grew out of Ziga Turk's SHASE (shareware search engine) project at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. The VSL technology has two elements: a back-end that updates a database of downloadable files available from shareware, freeware, and corporate software archives on the Internet, and a front-end which makes this database available for easy searching and downloading (including SHAREWARE.COM and vsl.cnet.com). Mirror sites--called front desks--running the VSL front end are spread throughout the world. See also: Archie