Well, not a proposal, per se... perhaps it's a call for a proposal?
It's really likely nothing more than the ramblings of an old man that
has recently retreated into the vestiges of the "old" Internet and
has adopted some sort of truth that Gopher deserves to be preserved,
not only for its historical value but its practical value, even in
this Year-of-our-Lord 2023.
Gopher's meager spec simply doesn't afford us the opportunity to
implement anything approaching the encryption and auth standards
afforded the modern web. But as commerce itself has been so altered
in the past several decades, perhaps conducting secure transactions
using the Gopher protocol (or even by extension) simply isn't
necessary?
# Simplification
One of the primary lessons I believe Gopher can teach
us in 2023 is simplicity. Let Gopher be Gopher. I would suggest we
simply build a standard/convention around order _taking_, or the
_initiation_ of a transaction via Gopher. The exchange of payment
would take place out-of-band, by some agreed-upon means. I would like
to be able to encourage the use of the most frictionless payment
methods for the majority of Gopher users, but I think any valid means
should be allowed by spec/convention.
# Payment methods (just a note)
Modern payment methods such as Venmo, Google's and Apple's respective
'Cash' services, PayPal, etc. certainly come to mind, as do the
various forms for cryptocurrency, but I would suggest that the old
cash/check/money order/western union/etc. mechanisms may be plenty
serviceable for modern commerce. (subject to locality, no doubt)
I'm not sure if even this could be done without extension of the
protocol, (Gopher++, anyone?) but I think it's worth exploring.
I propose that we (Gopher users/developers) establish some kind of...
I don't know... something formal-ish?
If this phlog post sparks any conversation, I'll post updates here...
