In context of the internet, gopher isn't someone who
gets coffee or a cute little rodent, it's a fully functional
TCP/IP protol (port 70) that was designed to distribute,
search, and retrieve documents over the internet.
Gopher was developed in 1991 at the University of Minnesota,
home of the "Golden Gophers", it's typically text based,
but there have been attempts to extend it's functionality,
most notebly the HyperGopher browser.
Some browsers (which I don't use) have dropped support for gopher
all together, such as Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera, Chrome, etc...
There have been rumors about Firefox dropping support, but time
will tell, I used Firefox 3.5.2 for all the images below.
For those of you familiar with Archie (FTP search) you can appreciate
the gopher search engine names Veronica and Jughead.
How do I access gopher?
To access a site using the gopher protocol, you simply call out the protocol
as part of the browser URL line.
gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/1/v2
How do I search?
You use a gopher search engine much the same way you use a
normal http search engine, however there are not many gopher
search engines around.
I typically use Veronica-2, see below...
And here is the result set I received in return.
Here is a document from one of the links I clicked:
Is there anything good out there?
For some, there is a wealth of information to be devoured using gopher,
but for others, especially those who only like flash and video may not find much to be had.
Did you know that many educational institutions still make files available via gopher?
Is there anything good out there?
You will have to decide that for yourself, but this portal will get you started
using gopher.
If you've never used gopher...
Give it a try
References:
Gopher (protocol) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Veronica FAQ (Part 1 of 2)
