Gopher... the path less taken

[debtboy]

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)

[Jordan]

Ah, this brings back the days. I remember when I first got on the Internet using Gopher (because this was all we had). Nice tutorial! +rep

[WingedPanther]

That takes me back to the early 90s. Of course, the gopher interface was command line back then. Oh, and FTP was great, but downloading the files over a 2400 baud modem was an all night affair for a few hundred KB. Then there were those pesky games that wanted Windows 3.1 installed! 8 hours of download for an error message!

+rep

[Jordan]

I'm right there with you WP. I remember when the 14400 baud modem come out, it was so fast...

[WingedPanther]

14400 was blazing speed. A true delight when I upgraded. The problem was finding something faster than 9600 to connect it to.

[Jordan]

Very true! I went from 2400 to 14400 so you could imagine the speed increase!

[debtboy]

Before I had access to the internet,
I would dial into various Bulletin Board Systems
w/ my rock solid Hayes 1200 baud modem!!

Last page of a free paper at supermarket had a small
listing of local BBSs.
They were free as opposed to Compuserve who charged.

I'm a bit of a nostalgia nut.

[Jordan]

Those were some interesting days. I had a 286 with a 2400 baud. I really loved playing the game LORD, you ever play that?

[debtboy]

never player LORD, but while were walking down
memory lane, what was the first editor you used?
For me it was edlin.

[WingedPanther]

I remember writing a paper for English class in edlin. That was a bit of a nightmare.