How to browse gopherspace on Linux
-------------------------------------------------------------------
< intro >
There are many browsers and browser extensions that support gopher,
as well as proxy http websites. Linux is very terminal oriented,
and 'nix was the birthplace of gopher, so it's going to be really
simple to set up.
Personally, I think the most lightweight and fitting options are
lynx and the original gopher client.
< index >
/p1 Lynx
/p2 Original Gopher Client
< p1 >
Lynx is a text-based browser for linux. It comes with many distros
by default, so check if you have it with any of these commands:
===================================================================
$ whereis lynx
lynx: /usr/bin/lynx /etc/lynx.lss /etc/lynx.cfg
/usr/share/man/man1/lynx.1.bz2
$ which lynx
/usr/bin/lynx
===================================================================
If you don't have it, it should be easily available from your
distribution's package manager (apt-get, yaourt, pacman, emerge...)
Alternatively, you can also get a free shell account at sdf.org
which comes with lynx preinstalled (aliased as "gopher") and browse
through ssh (which actually loads faster than running the browser
locally if you are far from sdf's servers or your internet is
slow).
You are now ready to surf the gopherspace. Simply type:
===================================================================
lynx
gopher://sdf.org/1/users/loli
===================================================================
To visit this gopherspace.
The controls you will be using the most for gopherspace are:
- g: lets you enter a new url (confirm with enter)
- Up/Down: navigate links or scroll text files
- Enter: follow a link
- Right/Left: go forward and back
- CTRL+R: refresh page
- q: quit (confim with y and enter)
For a nice index of most gopher content, visit
gopher://gopher.floodgap.com
You can customize your homepage and other things by editing
/etc/lynx.cfg with your favorite editor (remember to run it as
sudo/root). The homepage can be changed from the STARTFILE value.
Personally, I find it cleaner to copy /etc/lynx.cfg to my home
folder and
===================================================================
export LYNX_CFG="$HOME/lynx.cfg
===================================================================
In my ~/.bashrc so I don't have to sudo every time I need to tweak
the config file.
< p2 >
The original gopher client is open-source and can still be easily
compiled on linux and mac, however it has a bug with displaying
the 10th line of every document, so I will add instructions on
patching and compiling it only when I fix that. [TODO]
