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+title:  Why all those protocols
+date:   Tue, 06 Feb 2024 20:03:56 +0100
+author: -fab- <[email protected]>
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                \/       \/\/       <___>

This post was made because someone on BBS made clear that he's done
with gopher since gemini exists. Here is my answer to that.


Why do I use all those protocols?
=================================

On  my  server there  are  several  services running  now:  gemini,
finger, gopher and a http(s) server. The web server just proxies my
gemini capsule  to the www  with kineto. I  even host my  own email
server.  But why  do I  use  all of  these protocols  and not  just
gemini?

The short answer: It's a lot of fun!

In some  more sentences I have  to say that all  of these protocols
have their  entitlement and  I want  to promote the  use of  all of
them. They all belong to the smolnet  and I like to provide all the
services  one could  make use  of. And  I want  more people  in the
community  to run  these services  and put  them to  good use.  And
gopher is not dead!


Gemini protocol
===============

The gemini protocol  was the first service I set  up. I didn't have
much of an idea about gopher back  then and I thought gemini is the
superior protocol. I used the amfora TUI client for a long time and
it only  supports gemini. I  never really liked the  graphical user
interface of Lagrange although it's  great software. I just used it
to open links I couldn't open with amfora.

-- Why gemini: When I heared about gemini, this was my introduction
to the smolnet/indieweb. It made completely clear that I don't want
to go further  with the way the internet is  heading these days and
in future.


World Wide Web
==============

After a while I wanted to make my gemini content accessible via the
world  wide  web  (without  cookies/javascript  of  course).  So  I
installed  kineto from  Drew  Devault as  a proxy  and  nginx as  a
webserver and there we go.

-- Why the WWW: Maybe I can  convince some people who are using the
web exclusively to  try a more user centric protocol  and make them
aware of the smolnet.


Discovery of telescope
======================

I was using makew0rlds amfora  Gemini commandline client for nearly
the whole time  since I discovered Gemini in 2021.  I always prefer
terminal / commandline  applications over full blown GUI  apps - so
no Lagrange.  And I didn't really  dive into the Gopher  and Finger
protocols, because amfora  lacked support for these  features and I
didn't  know of a terminal client  that supports  all these which I
liked.

Then  I discovered  'telescope'  from  Omar Polo  -  and  it was  a
revelation! Telescope  is a  TUI /  commandline client  for Gemini,
Gopher and  Finger. It's easy to  style and configure. Now  I could
hop from Gemini to Gopher to  Finger back and forth and that opened
up my mind for all the other protocols, because surfing the SmolNet
with telescope is  a breeze. It's small, lean and  fast. I can only
recommend  telescope  to  every  SmolNet  surfer  who  prefers  the
terminal like I do.


Finger
======

After   this  revelation   I   tried  the   finger  services   that
'typed-hole.org' and 'thebackupbox.net' provided and was intrigued.
I  brought  up  my  own  finger  addresses  which  serve  different
purposes. E.g. with 'finger [email protected]' you get my contact
information  and  some words  about  what  I'm  doing now  for  the
foreseeable  future. Like  some people  have a  /now page  on their
websites.

-- Why  Finger: Finger  is a very  fast and nerdy  way to  get some
specific information about a user or service.


Gopher
======

Gophernicus is a gopher server that is also started by inetd when a
connection comes in. This was the  last service I set up (for now).
There  are  still  a  lot  of gopher  holes  with  tons  of  useful
information  and gopher  belongs to  the smolnet  just like  gemini
does. I love to browse the  gopher space since I use telescope. And
all the interesting places I visited  induced the wish to create my
own gopher hole.

--  Why Gopher:  The  gopher community  started  the whole  smolnet
movement.  Even  gemini  came  from  a  long  time  gopher  user  -
Solderpunk. It's the origin of all this.


Other protocols?
================

I haven't messed  around with spartan or nex, because  they seem to
be a little too made-up and not  widely used (I know I'll make some
people angry with this statement. I don't care). Maybe later.


What do you think?
==================

If you have  some thoughts, comments or suggestions,  please let me
know. Send  me an  email to <[email protected]>  or follow  me on
Mastodon/ActivityPub <@[email protected]>.


All in all - Have fun!
-fab-

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