Re: can't gopher robbie
- From: BillV2320@xxxxxxxxx (Murgatroyd Moonbeam)
- Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2008 19:20:39 -0500
WHOA ! You are some heavy duty compu-geek brah!
Gopher (protocol)
Gopher is a distributed document search and retrieval network protocol
designed for the Internet. Its goal is to function as an improved form
of Anonymous FTP, enhanced with hyperlinking features similar to that of
the World Wide Web.
The Gopher protocol offers some features not natively supported by the
Web and imposes a much stronger hierarchy on information stored on it.
Its text menu interface is well-suited to computing environments that
rely heavily on remote computer terminals, common in universities at the
time of its creation in 1991 until 1993.[1]
The TCP/IP model (RFC 1122)Application LayerBGP · DHCP ·
DNS · FTP · Gopher · GTP · HTTP ·
IMAP · IRC · NNTP · NTP · POP ·
RIP · RPC · RTCP · RTP · RTSP ·
SDP · SIP · SMTP · SNMP · SOAP ·
SSH · STUN · Telnet · TIME ·
TLS/SSL · XMPP · (more)Transport LayerTCP ·
UDP · DCCP · SCTP · RSVP · ECN ·
(more)Internet LayerIP (IPv4, IPv6) · ICMP ·
ICMPv6 · IGMP · IPsec · (more)Link
LayerARP · RARP · NDP · OSPF ·
Tunnels (L2TP) · Media Access Control (Ethernet, DSL, ISDN,
FDDI) · Device Drivers · (more)
This box: view â?¢ talk â?¢ edit
Contents
1 Origins
2 Stagnation
3 Availability of Gopher today
3.1 Gopher support in Web browsers
3.2 Gopher clients
3.3 Gopher to HTTP gateways
4 Gopher characteristics
5 Technical details
5.1 Protocol
5.2 Gopher types
5.2.1 URL links
5.3 Related technology
6 Gopher server software
7 See also
8 References and footnotes
9 External links
9.1 Standards
[edit] Origins
The original Gopher system was released in late spring of 1991 by Mark
McCahill, Farhad Anklesaria, Paul Lindner, Dan Torrey, and Bob Alberti
of the University of Minnesota. Its central goals are:
A file-like hierarchical arrangement that would be familiar to users
A simple syntax
A system that can be created quickly and inexpensively
Extending the file system metaphor to include things like searches
The source of the name "Gopher" is claimed to be threefold:
Users instruct it to "go for" information
It does so through a web of menu items analogous to gopher holes
The sports teams of the University of Minnesota are the Golden Gophers
Gopher combines document hierarchies with collections of services,
including WAIS, the Archie and Veronica search engines, and gateways to
other information systems such as ftp and Usenet.
The general interest in Campus-Wide Information Systems (CWISs)[2] in
higher education at the time, and the ease with which a Gopher server
could be set up to create an instant CWIS with links to other sites'
online directories and resources were the factors contributing to
Gopher's rapid adoption. By 1992, the standard method of locating
someone's e-mail address was to find their organization's CCSO
nameserver entry in Gopher, and query the nameserver.[3]
The exponential scaling of utility in social networked systems (Reed's
law) seen in Gopher, and then the Web, is a common feature of networked
hypermedia systems with distributed authoring. In 1993â?"1994, Web
pages commonly contained large numbers of links to Gopher-delivered
resources, as the Web continued Gopher's embrace and extend tradition of
providing gateways to other services.
[edit] Stagnation
The World Wide Web was in its infancy in 1991, and Gopher services
quickly became established. By the late 1990s, Gopher had ceased
expanding. Several factors contributed to Gopher's stagnation:
In February 1993, the University of Minnesota announced that it would
charge licensing fees for the use of its implementation of the Gopher
server.[4] As a consequence of this some users suspected that a
licensing fee would also be charged for independent
implementations.[5][6] In contrast, no such limitation has yet been
imposed on the World Wide Web. The University of Minnesota eventually
re-licensed its Gopher software under the GNU GPL.[7]
Gopher Client functionality was quickly duplicated by early Web
browsers, such as Mosaic. Furthermore, the commercial friendliness of
the World Wide Web, with its integration of text and graphics, made
Gopher less appealing to marketing personnel.
Gopher has an inflexible structure when compared to the free-form HTML
of the Web. With Gopher, every document has a defined format and type,
and the typical user must navigate through a single server-defined menu
system to get to a particular document. Graphic Designers did not like
the artificial distinction between menu and fixed document in the Gopher
system, and found the Web's open-ended flexibility better suited for
constructing interrelated sets of documents and interactive
applications.[citation needed]
[edit] Availability of Gopher today
As of 2008, there are approximately 125 gopher servers indexed by
Veronica-2,[8] a slow growth from 2007 when there were fewer than
100.[9] Many of them are owned by universities in various parts of the
world. Most of them are neglected and rarely updated except for the ones
run by enthusiasts of the protocol. A handful of new servers are set up
every year by hobbyists â?" 30 have been set up and added to
Floodgap's list since 1999[10] and possibly some more that haven't been
added.
Some have suggested that the bandwidth-sparing simple interface of
Gopher would be a good match for mobile phones and Personal digital
assistants (PDAs),[11] but so far, Wireless Markup Language
(WML)/Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), DoCoMo i-mode, XHTML Basic or
other adaptations of HTML and XML, have proved more popular. The
PyGopherd server, however, provides a built-in WML front-end to Gopher
sites served with it.
[edit] Gopher support in Web browsers
Mozilla Firefox 1.5 displaying the top-level menu of the Floodgap gopher
server
Gopher support was disabled in Internet Explorer versions 5.* and 6 for
Windows in June 2002 by a patch meant to fix a security vulnerability in
the browser's Gopher protocol handler; however, it can be re-enabled by
editing the Windows registry.[12] In Internet Explorer 7, Gopher support
was removed on the WinINET level.[13] Internet Explorer for Mac (only on
PowerPC architecture and in End-of-life) still supports Gopher. Internet
Explorer is hard coded to work on port 70.
Other browsers, including AOL and Mozilla (deprecated), still support
the protocol, but incompletelyâ?"the most obvious deficiency is that
they cannot display the informational text found on many Gopher menus.
Mozilla Firefox has full Gopher support as of release 1.5, and partial
support in previous versions. The SeaMonkey Internet suite, successor of
the Mozilla all-in-one suite, also supports Gopher fully, as does
Camino, a browser based on Mozilla's engine. Such Mozilla-based browsers
are able to display embedded images from a gopher server on an
HTTP-based HTML document and follow download links to a gopher server.
However, it has been announced that support for the Gopher protocol will
be removed by default in the Mozilla 2 platform that Firefox 4.0 will
use.[14]
Konqueror needs a plugin to be installed for full Gopher support, such
as kio_gopher.
The most extensive Gopher support is offered in Lynx,[citation needed] a
text-based browser, while the Safari and Opera web browsers do not
support Gopher at all (though Opera 9.0 includes a proxy capability).
ELinks has experimental Gopher support (as a compile-time option).
[edit] Gopher clients
Gopher was at its height of popularity during a time when there were
still many equally competing computer architectures and operating
systems. As such, there are several Gopher Clients available for Acorn
RISC OS, AmigaOS, Atari MiNT, CMS, DOS, MacOS 7x, MVS, NeXT, OS/2 Warp,
most UNIX-like operating systems, VMS, Windows 3x, and Windows 9x.
GopherVR was a client designed for 3D visualization, and there is even a
Gopher Client MOO object. The majority of these clients are hard coded
to work on Port 70.
Example Gopher Web Search:
gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/7/v2/vs
[edit] Gopher to HTTP gateways
Users of Web browsers that have incomplete or no support for Gopher[15]
can access content on Gopher servers via a server gateway that converts
Gopher menus into HTML. One such server is at Floodgap.com. By default
any Squid cache proxy server will act as a Gopher to HTTP gateway.
Some Gopher servers, such as GN and PyGopherd, also have built-in Gopher
to HTTP interfaces.
[edit] Gopher characteristics
Gopher functions and appears much like a mountable read-only global
network file system (and software, such as gopherfs, is available that
can actually mount a Gopher server as a FUSE resource). At a minimum,
whatever a person can do with data files on a CD-ROM, they can do on
Gopher.
A Gopher system consists of a series of hierarchical hyperlinkable
menus. The choice of menu items and titles is controlled by the
administrator of the server.
The top level menu of a Gopher server. Selecting the "Fun and Games"
menu item...
... takes the user to the "Fun and Games" menu.
A Gopher menu listing other accessible servers.
Gopher menu from a terminal client.
Similar to a file on a Web server, a file on a Gopher server can be
linked to as a menu item from any other Gopher server. Many servers take
advantage of this inter-server linking to provide a directory of other
servers that the user can access.
[edit] Technical details
[edit] Protocol
The Gopher protocol was first described in INFORMATIONAL RFC 1436. IANA
has assigned TCP port 70 to the Gopher protocol.
The gopher protocol is extremely simple in its conception, making it
possible to browse without using a client. A standard gopher Telnet
session may therefore appear as follows:
telnet quux.org 70
Trying 64.85.160.193...
Connected to quux.org.
Escape character is '^]'.
/Reference
1CIA World Factbook /Archives/mirrors/textfiles.com/politics/CIA
gopher.quux.org 70
0Jargon 4.2.0 /Reference/Jargon 4.2.0 gopher.quux.org 70 +
1Online Libraries /Reference/Online Libraries gopher.quux.org
70 +
1RFCs: Internet Standards /Computers/Standards and Specs/RFC
gopher.quux.org 70
1U.S. Gazetteer /Reference/U.S. Gazetteer gopher.quux.org 70
+
iThis file contains information on United States fake (NULL)
0
icities, counties, and geographical areas. It has fake (NULL)
0
ilatitude/longitude, population, land and water area, fake (NULL)
0
iand ZIP codes. fake (NULL) 0
i fake (NULL) 0
iTo search for a city, enter the city's name. To search fake
(NULL) 0
ifor a county, use the name plus County -- for instance, fake
(NULL) 0
iDallas County. fake (NULL) 0
Connection closed by foreign host.
Here, the client has established a TCP connection with the server, on
Port 70, the standard gopher port. The client then it sends "/Reference"
followed by a carriage return followed by a line feed (a "CR + LF"
sequence). This is the item selector, which identifies the document to
be retrieved. If the item selector were an empty line, the default
directory will be selected. The server then replies with the requested
item and closes the connection. According to the protocol, before the
connection is closed, the server should send a full-stop on a line by
itself. However, as is the case here, not all servers conform to this
part of the protocol and the server may close the connection without
returning the final full-stop.
In this example, the item sent back is a directory, consisting of a
sequence of lines, each of which describes an item that can be
retrieved. Most clients will display these as hypertext links, and so
allow the user to navigate through the gopherspace by following the
links. All lines in a directory listing are ended with "CR + LF" and
consist of five fields: Type (see below), User_Name (i.e. the text to
display), Selector (i.e. the file name), Host and Port. The Type and
User_Name fields are joined without a space; the other fields are
separated by tabs.
[edit] Gopher types
File-types are described in gopher menus by a single letter or number.
The original protocol defines 14 types, with others being added by the
community. Older clients may not handle new file types, such as d for
PDF, which is why many authors use the generic 9 for all binary files,
hoping that the client's computer will be able to correctly process the
file.
item type character, which is usually one of the following:
0 = plain text file
1 = directory listing
2 = CSO search query
3 = error message
4 = BinHex encoded text file
5 = binary archive file
6 = UUEncoded text file
7 = search engine query
8 = telnet session pointer
9 = binary file
d = PDF file
g = GIF image file
h = HTML file
i = informational message
I = image file
s = audio file
description text
item selector (typically a file-system pathname)
domain name of the server on which the item resides
port number of that server
[edit] URL links
Historically, to create a link to a Web server, "GET /" was used as the
file to simulate an HTTP client request. John Goerzen created an
addition [16] to the Gopher protocol, commonly referred to as "URL
links", that allows links to any protocol that supports URLs. For
example, to create a link to http://gopher.quux.org, the item type is
"h", the description is arbitrary, the item selector is
"URL:http://gopher.quux.org";, and the domain and port are that of the
originating Gopher server. For clients that do not support URL links,
the server creates an HTML redirection page.
[edit] Related technology
The main Gopher search engine is Veronica. Veronica offers a keyword
search of most Gopher server menu titles in the gopher web. A Veronica
search produces a menu of Gopher items, each of which is a direct
pointer to a Gopher data source. Currently, there is only one Veronica-2
server.
GopherVR is a 3D variant of the original Gopher system.
[edit] Gopher server software
PyGopherd â?" modern gopher+ server written in Python.
Bucktooth â?" modern gopher server written in Perl.
Geomyidae â?" written in C. Public domain
GoFish
PyGS
Aftershock â?" written in Java.
GN
mgod
Gopher Cannon â?" Win32/Win64, freeware, written in .NET 3.5
[edit] See also
Veronica â?" the search engine system for the Gopher protocol, an
acronym for "Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Net-wide Index to Computer
Archives".
Jugtail â?" an alternative search engine system for the Gopher
protocol. Jugtail was formerly known as Jughead.
Gopher+ â?" early proposed extensions to the Gopher protocol
Super Dimension Fortress â?" a non-profit organization which
provides free Gopher hosting
Phlog â?" The gopher version of a weblog
Wide area information server â?" a search engine whose popularity
was contemporary with Gopher
[edit] References and footnotes
^ Hello, welcome to my phlog (gopher link)
^ Google Groups archive of bit.listserv.cwis-l discussion
^ Google Groups archive of comp.infosystems.gopher discussion
^
http://www.funet.fi/pub/vms/networking/gopher/gopher-software-licensing-policy.ancient
^ Google Groups
^
http://groups.google.com/groups?AMITselm=36e4c2f1.10244576@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
^ gopher://wwww.michaeleshun.4t.com
^ gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/0/v2/vstat
^ Kaiser, Cameron (2007-03-19). "Down the Gopher Hole". TidBITS.
Retrieved on 2007-03-23.
^ gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/1/new
^ Wired News: Gopher: Underground Technology
^ "Microsoft Security Bulletin MS02-047". Microsoft (2003-02-28).
Retrieved on 2007-03-23.
^ "Release Notes for Internet Explorer 7". Microsoft (2006). Retrieved
on 2007-03-23.
^ "Bug 388195 - Remove gopher protocol support for Firefox". Retrieved
on 2008-08-24.
^ To determine whether a Web browser supports Gopher, compare the
display of this gopher menu with the same menu produced by a Gopher to
HTML gateway in the browser.
^
http://gopher.quux.org/Archives/Mailing%20Lists/gopher/gopher.2002-02|/MBOX-MESSAGE/34
[edit] External links
Gopher Jewels 2 (gopher link)
The state of Gopher support for common Web browsers
List of new Gopher servers since 1999 (gopher link)
List of Gopher servers
Gopher Clients
An announcement of Gopher on the Usenet Oct 8 1991
Spencer Hunter's Homepage â?" Example of a Gopher emulation in HTML,
online since 1995. Under the "About this gopher and myself" directory is
the author's own Gopher manifesto, "Why gopher is superior to the Web."
A community server for the Collier County, FL (Naples, FL) area whose
fast web interface is inspired by Gopher. It is also an example of a
Gopher emulation in HTML
[edit] Standards
Gopher Reference Material Repository (gopher link)
RFC 1436 â?" The Gopher Protocol
RFC 1580
RFC 1689
RFC 1738
RFC 1808
RFC 2396
RFC 4266
v â?¢ d â?¢ e
Early Web browsers (up to 1996) (list, list for Unix, comparison,
history, usage share, timeline)
1991
WorldWideWeb (Nexus)
1992
ViolaWWW · Erwise · MidasWWW · MacWWW
(Samba) · Libwww Line-mode
1993
NCSA Mosaic · Cello · Lynx (2.0) · Arena
1994
IBM WebExplorer · Netscape Navigator · MicroMind SlipKnot
(1.0) · TradeWave MacWeb · IBrowse ·
Navipress · Argo · Minuet · Internet in a
Box · Spyglass Mosaic
1995
Internet Explorer 1.0 · Netscape Navigator 2.0 ·
OmniWeb · WebRouser · Sun WebRunner (HotJava) ·
Grail · Internet Explorer 2 · Delrina Cyberjack
1996
Arachne 1.0 · Internet Explorer 3.0 · Netscape Navigator
3.0 · Opera Software Opera · Oracle PowerBrowser ·
Apple Cyberdog · INRIA Amaya (.9) · AWeb ·
VaporWare Voyager
Related technologies
Browser wars · HyperCard · Gopher · E-mail ·
Elm · Web page · Viewdata · Teletext ·
Videotex · X.25 · Aliweb · ASCII · HyperText
Markup Language · HyTelnet · Virtual Reality Markup
Language · File Transfer Protocol · Telnet ·
NLS · NCSA Telnet · UUCP · Usenet ·
ARPANET · BITNET · Prodigy · CompuServe ·
World Wide Web · Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog ·
3D Markup Language for Web
v â?¢ d â?¢ e
Gopher
Active clients
Arachne · AT&T Pogo · Camino · Conkeror ·
ELinks · Epiphany · Fennec · Flock ·
Galeon · Gnuzilla · K-Meleon · K-Ninja ·
Kazehakase · Lynx · Mothra · Mozilla Firefox
3 · SeaMonkey · Skipstone · Sleipnir ·
Songbird · Overbite (Firefox extension) · VMS
Mosaic · W3m · XeroBank Browser
Discontinued clients
Argo · Beonex Communicator · Cello ·
Cyberjack · DocZilla · IBrowse · Internet Explorer
2, 3, 4, 5, for Mac · Libwww Line-mode · Madfox ·
Minimo · Minuet · Mosaic · Mozilla Application
Suite · Netscape Browser · Netscape Communicator ·
Netscape Navigator 9 · SlipKnot
Server software
Bucktooth · PyGopherd · Squid
See also
Cameron Kaiser · Gopher+ · GopherVR ·
Jughead · Phlog · Super Dimension Fortress ·
Veronica · CCSO Nameserver · Wide area information server
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_(protocol)"
Categories: Internet Gopher | Internet protocols | Application layer
protocols | Internet standards | Internet history | University of
Minnesota software
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