Gude to Staring with Gopher (alternate net protocol).
Posted: Sat May 06, 2023 1:54 pm
Here is a short guide for getting started on Gopher. Some of this is also covered in my journal, but I imagine it is good to have a step-by-step guide in one place.
Step 1: get Lynx browser
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx_(web_browser)
http://lynx.browser.org/
Alternate step: use floopgap as an http proxy
https://gopher.floodgap.com/gopher/
Here’s why I don’t like that step, even though it is as easy as a mouse click away: it adds a computation step, so it uses more resources than either the same page rendered as html (if rendered the same way) or the gopher page. Also, some of the resources I am sharing in step two take html pages and strip them to gopher. Well, if you read on the proxy, that means what you are seeing went html > gopher > html, and I just find that kind of absurd. But whatever. YMMV.
Step 2: read gopher stuff.
I most recommend the SDF “phlogs” (haha gopher logs). This is home to plenty of content in Gopher that isn’t about Gopher, something that used to not be the case with Gemini (another alternative protocol).
gopher://gopher.club/1/phlogs/
If you want to ferret out more stuff for yourself, including using the Veronica search engine (prepare to not be exactly amazed) the next place to look is the floopgap gopher site:
gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/
Once you’ve made gopherland a place you are willing to spend some time, you can extend you stay with some ways to replace content you would see in other places:
gopher://hngopher.com/
Hacker News port
gopher://gopherpedia.com
gopherpedia -- Wiki port
gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/7/groundhog/us/zipcode
Weather. It will ask for a zip code and consult a database.
Step 3: connect with human beings
Dust off ye old email. Keep in mind we don’t have “like buttons” in gopher land, and even hit counters are pretty rare, so a short “I appreciate what you write” is good for most of the people who contribute to the medium. You’re probably not going to get all that long of a response, but at least you have given an affirmation that the person isn’t writing into a void.
I at first thought there would be a vibe totally hostile to getting an email from gmail or some other email ran by a big badie tech company, and for that reason I only email people with my SDF email, but as I’ve spent more time in the space, I don’t think many people care all that much. I think it is more of a hobbyist space than a revolutionary space.
Step 1: get Lynx browser
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx_(web_browser)
http://lynx.browser.org/
Alternate step: use floopgap as an http proxy
https://gopher.floodgap.com/gopher/
Here’s why I don’t like that step, even though it is as easy as a mouse click away: it adds a computation step, so it uses more resources than either the same page rendered as html (if rendered the same way) or the gopher page. Also, some of the resources I am sharing in step two take html pages and strip them to gopher. Well, if you read on the proxy, that means what you are seeing went html > gopher > html, and I just find that kind of absurd. But whatever. YMMV.
Step 2: read gopher stuff.
I most recommend the SDF “phlogs” (haha gopher logs). This is home to plenty of content in Gopher that isn’t about Gopher, something that used to not be the case with Gemini (another alternative protocol).
gopher://gopher.club/1/phlogs/
If you want to ferret out more stuff for yourself, including using the Veronica search engine (prepare to not be exactly amazed) the next place to look is the floopgap gopher site:
gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/
Once you’ve made gopherland a place you are willing to spend some time, you can extend you stay with some ways to replace content you would see in other places:
gopher://hngopher.com/
Hacker News port
gopher://gopherpedia.com
gopherpedia -- Wiki port
gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/7/groundhog/us/zipcode
Weather. It will ask for a zip code and consult a database.
Step 3: connect with human beings
Dust off ye old email. Keep in mind we don’t have “like buttons” in gopher land, and even hit counters are pretty rare, so a short “I appreciate what you write” is good for most of the people who contribute to the medium. You’re probably not going to get all that long of a response, but at least you have given an affirmation that the person isn’t writing into a void.
I at first thought there would be a vibe totally hostile to getting an email from gmail or some other email ran by a big badie tech company, and for that reason I only email people with my SDF email, but as I’ve spent more time in the space, I don’t think many people care all that much. I think it is more of a hobbyist space than a revolutionary space.