----------------------------------------

	----------------------------------------
	What makes gopher special
	March 05th, 2018
	----------------------------------------

	First an apology is due to ckeen [0] who I didn't realize was all
	over this gopher thing. He was even kind enough to link to burrow
	in a recent phlog. Thanks to jynx for referencing him so I could
	discover what I was missing.

	ckeen recently wrote [1] about what makes gopher special to him.
	He and jynx [2] nail it pretty well when they talk about the
	simplicity, creator/consumer dynamic, and signal to noise ratio.
	I like the intentionality of it all as well. You don't just
	accidentally create a gopher hole. You didn't just click a link to
	oAuth somewhere and start posting nonsense. You chose to create an
	account somewhere that offered a gopher server, or you rolled your
	own. You sat there with the text editor crafting your message.
	It's simple, yes, but it's also much more complicated.

	In a sense, the technology itself and its relatively esoteric and
	retro nature create a sort of gatekeeper. Gatekeeping is generally
	used in a negative conotation these days, but I think this type of
	natural systems gatekeeping is different. It's not prejudiced
	against a people or person for identity, but for intent, will, and
	interest. The technology hurdles aren't that high to say you have
	to be a coder to make it work. Cat [3], for instance, has one of
	the prettiest gopher holes and he does everything by hand using
	the simplest tools. In place of fancy coding proficiency he has
	demonstrated excellent interest and will to build Fax Sex.

	I love nerdy communities when they're seething with excitement and
	intention. I hate nerdy communities when they're filled with
	criticism, angst, and envy. Gopher satisifes the first group well
	and avoids the second. Perhaps it is as jynx says, a side effect
	of no comments. Perhaps it's just the community by chance. Maybe
	it's a side effect of the manual execution? You can't do
	a drive-by trolling on gopher, after all. Once you sink in the
	time to get set up, you're part of things.

	At the end of the day, I guess it all boils down to content.
	There's a lot of people on here that are doing interesting things.
	Sometimes it's computer related and sometimes not, but that
	exceptional drive to "do" things is contagious and I love it.


	[0] ckeen's gopher hole
	[1] ckeen - What makes gopher special for me
	[2] jynx - On the specialness of gopher
	[3] Fax Sex (cat)